


Rising Titans (ON HIATUS)

by orphan_account



Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons), Wizards (ToA)
Genre: Angst, Angsty people, Arthurian Legends but with a twist??, Character Death, Death, Don't Like Don't Read, Douxie is Mordred, Douxie is a precious boi, Douxie needs hugs, Druids, F/M, Feeling Weak, Gen, Happy ending???, Heavy Angst, I need sleep, Kinda, Like they REALLY need therapy, Magic, Major character death - Freeform, Mordred is a druid, Morgana and Merlin only show up in flashbacks/nightmares, Nightmares, OOCness maybe??? slightly???, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Planning out the plot as I go, Post-Wizards (Tales of Arcadia), Random Updates, Soul-concealment, arthurian legends, douxie and Claire feel guilty, feeling useless, inspired by BBC's Merlin, self-sacrificing, t.h.e.r.a.p.y. I tell you, these kids need therapy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:01:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 23,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25852540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Taking place after Wizards, Douxie, Archie, and Nari have settled in New York City. But after being tricked by the Order, Nari slips into the Arcane Order's fingertips. Now having to go on a quest that not only reveals where the Order is heading, but also something that has to do with Douxie, the Guardians of Arcadia may have met their match.
Relationships: Archie & Hisirdoux "Douxie" Casperan, Claire & Hisirdoux "Douxie" Casperan, Jim Lake Jr. & Hisirdoux "Douxie" Casperan, Jim Lake Jr./Claire Nuñez
Comments: 25
Kudos: 133





	1. The Streets of New York City

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little idea I have of what might happen in Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans. Hope you enjoy!

_“You let your master wizard die!” Bellroc said, voice fluctuating between male and female. The ice demigod Skrael and his fire-wielding sibling circled around Douxie as he held his staff at the ready. “You did nothing to even try!”_

_"No, I-I…” Douxie’s voice faltered, eyes frantic, looking back and forth between the two Arcane Order members. “There was nothing I could do!” he added, trying to sound firm. He failed, as his voice squeaked with slight terror._

_“There are an infinite number of spells, little Douxie,” a silky, malicious voice echoed throughout the room. Keeping an eye on the siblings, the boy wizard searched for the witch. A gleam of her golden armor caught his eyesight, and he shifting to face her._

_Morgana stood there as her green, artificial hand rose to shoulder’s height, holding a yellow ball of magic in her palm. She wore her helmet, so he only saw her green eyes squint at him in anger._

_"There were healing spells, boy,” Morgana continued her taunt, “and yet, you let him die in your arms!”_

_"There wasn’t much time!” Douxie tried to plead, still in a fighting stance. “I-I-!” Morgana shot the yellow magic at him. He rolled out of the way, the deadly ball almost scathing him. He painted as he looked back at the witch who threw more balls of magic at him. Douxie ducked for cover behind a jutted up piece of rock._

" _Come out, little Douxie,” Morgana said in an eerie tone, the sound of footsteps bouncing off the walls. But what confused Douxie was the way she sounded. Why was she beginning to sound like Merlin? “You could’ve saved me, yet you didn’t!”_

 _Douxie’s breath hitched in his throat as Morgana–no,_ Merlin _–came into his view, standing before his apprentice. Merlin raised his staff to Douxie’s neck, Douxie shifting uncomfortably. “You thought you’d be able to escape from your own guilt, didn’t you?”_

_M_ _erlin swung the staff at his own apprentice, the latter crouching down to dodge the attack. He ran as fast as he could, summoning his staff again. A blast of green magic hit his heels, and he stumbled to the floor. His staff skidded around the ground, before disappearing with a ‘poof’._

_“No, no, no, no, no!” Douxie panicked. He tried getting up, tried summoning his staff, but it didn’t work. Merlin used his magic to restrain Douxie, levitating the boy off the ground and near him. “I couldn’t save you, okay?!” He wailed, tears streaming down his face as he tried to break free. “I was–I was panicking, and I-.”_

_“That is no excuse, boy,” Merlin said as he tightened the magical binds that bound Douxie. “You failed to save me, Hisirdoux. Now, enjoy your punishment.” At the last sentence, Merlin’s voice switched for Morgana’s, and his body shifted back into the Pale Lady. She raised the rock music lover higher, tightening the binds even more before procuring a whip made of magic and using it to slam the boy into the stony wall. A sadistic smiled grew on her face as she laughed, enjoying the “show”._

_Douxie’s vision blurred and his breathing became strained. His entire body roared with pain as he slammed repeatedly into the wall. He tried to keep consciousness, but it was a futile effort. His eyelids grew heavy as Morgana tortured him further._

_“You let me die!”_

Douxie jerked out of bed, sweating running down his forehead. His breathing was fast, and he felt a few tears trickle down the side of his cheeks. One hand clung to the scrunched up bed sheets as he used another hand to wipe his tears away. In the room's darkness, a calm, kind voice spoke out, one that the wizard recognized. “Douxie, are you all right? I heard you squirm in your sleep and felt your soul become twisted like the roots of a tree.”

“I’m fine, Nari,” Douxie said reassuringly, though the tone of his voice told her otherwise. “Just had a bad dream.” He added, shrugging it off. He reached over for the side-table that sat next to his bed, turning on the lame, it’s light dim.

The room was a small apartment, with a bed, a small kitchen, and the living room taking up most of the space. A door near the bed led to the small, but thankfully clean, bathroom. Nari stood near the little brown couch that sat across from the hanging TV screen, her concern etched throughout her face.

“You say this every time,” Nari told him, taking small strides over to his bed. As gentle as could be, she sat down at the end, the bed creaking under her weight due to it being an old, rusted bed frame.

Douxie looked to the side, not wanting to meet the demigod’s gaze. Before Nari had time to say anything more, the two heard a piercing scream. Douxie jumped off the bed, opening the blinds that covered a window. He looked through the glass, seeing a woman pointing at something. She looked to be in hysterics.

“Arch, stay with Nari!” Douxie ordered, quickly getting dressed and pulling his jacket over his arms. He grabbed his magical wrist-band, sliding it over the small scar that started in the center of his hand and down an inch of his arm. “Something just came up, and I don’t think it was a thief!” He added before slamming his apartment’s door shut.

Frightened at the sudden noise, Archie awoke, jumping up like a scared cat before landing on all four paws. He hissed at the door, and Nari giggled.

Meanwhile, Douxie raced down the stairs of the apartment building and out the door, panting. He glanced from where the hysterical woman and a policeman were, to the opposite end of the street. Another shout of fear was heard, and Douxie took off running, turning a corner and crashing into a girl no older than fifteen. With quick speed, he stood up, about to help her. He, however, began running again after seeing a body of yellow and dark blue crawl away.

“Sorry!” He called back, hearing the girl’s faint grumbling. He rounded a corner, skidding to a stop as he surveyed the crowded street. A rustle of trash cans was heard, so Douxie decided to check it out. He creeped his way over to where the noise came from–an alleyway. He ignored the odd stares as he hopped out in front of the alleyway.

“Aha!” Douxie exclaimed. “Fuzz buckets.” His excitement turned to discouragement upon seeing a raccoon rummage through the garbage. The animal squeaked as it jumped off the trash cans, scurrying in-between Douxie’s legs as it ran out into the open, busy street.

Douxie was about to turn around and look somewhere else, when a shadowy figure slithered from the wall to the floor. The Shadow Mephit surfaced from the concrete, hissing at the boy wizard before sucking off down another alleyway that intersected with the one Douxie was occupying. He chased after the creature, turning a sharp right and using magic to summon his staff, which was in the form of a guitar.

The Shadow Mephit backed up, but bumped against the cold brick wall. It hissed once more at the wizard, before melding into the ground, its shadow slithering off and out of sight. A dumbfounded Douxie stood in place, before starting to go after it again. But just as he hurried out of the alleyway and back onto the sidewalk, a loud boom sounded off in the distance.

“Oh no.” Douxie said upon realization. “No, no, no, no, no!” He ran as fast as he could down the sidewalk, pushing aside people in his way; a few shouted “Hey!” or “Rude,” but he paid no mind to it. The Shadow Mephit he had chased around town—it was a distraction. A distraction that the Arcane Order most likely planned. A distraction that would lead Nari’s defense away from her, leaving her vulnerable to attack.

Douxie ran even faster as he heard shouts and cries for help. He rounded a corner yet again, seeing a vast crowd gathering around the burned down building, a few giant shards of ice poking through. Two fire trucks parked near the scene, firemen getting out hoses to put out the remaining stubborn flames. An ambulance was there too, EMTs caring to the people who had been inside the building when the attack happened.

Douxie shifted through the massive crowd, trying to find Nari, or even Archie. A meow sounded to his left, and he turned to see a slightly battered up Archie, out in the open, limping towards his master. Douxie ran to him, embracing his familiar in a tight hug.

“Ow. Careful with my side,” Archie said, hinting at Douxie to loosen up. His master obliged, his smile turning into a deep frown.

“Archie, w-what happened?” Douxie asked, concern dripping from every word. His eyes were mixed with full-blown worry of if Nari was all right, and guilt that he had strayed from protecting the poor girl. “Where’s Nari?”

“Douxie, the Arcane Order…” Archie stated with solemnity. He adjusted his glasses that, before now, had been askew on the pavement. “They…”

 _No, no, no, no, NO!_ Hisirdoux “Douxie” Casperan had one job. One. Job. And, as expected from a rebellious teen, he screwed it all up!

Mordrax’s Miracles, what had he done?


	2. The Sacred Scrolls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yaay! Chapter update!

Birds chirped as the sun started to set on the horizon, bathing the small town of Arcadia in warm, orangey sunlight. School hadn’t let in still (due to a magical ship that had crash-landed a month ago into the building), so the students of Arcadia Oaks High were given an extended summer break. The town itself wasn’t crowded as much as before, as a few families and individuals decided to move and get away from all the action and “weirdness” it kept stirring up.

A human James Lake Jr., along with his best friend Toby and witch-girlfriend Claire, walked down the almost-empty sidewalk, save for a few people. They had eaten tacos earlier, and now were munching on their dessert, ice cream.

To be frank, Jim didn’t get used to being human again until only this week. In the beginning, his body felt strange, and he had to adjust to being shorter than his troll-self. On the positive side, he was glad he could eat normal food again instead of smelly socks.

Besides having to cope with being human again, Jim also dealt with… nightmares. He figured he would have them; he _had_ been through a lot. Nevertheless, he endured them, waking up every night in a cold sweat. It wasn’t the most ideal sleep pattern (obviously), but at least he did get to sleep.

Jim felt Claire weave her fingers through his, and he, in turn, gave her a kiss on her cheek. No sooner did he feel a tug that he looked over at a rock near where the school once stood, the stone holding the gleaming sword Excalibur, a sword that once belonged to King Arthur.

Claire noticed his stare, and glanced at Toby, before asking her boyfriend, “Hey. You want to try to pull it out again?”

“Couldn’t hurt to try,” Toby added with jazz hands. Jim chuckled at his friend’s antics before looking back at the sword he thought he was destined to wield. Just as he began to walk across the road and over to it, a loud, crashing noise sounded off in the distance. Jim and his friends gave each other a glance before hurrying off in the direction the sound came from.

[{^^—^^}]

“Hold on tight!” Douxie cried, using his staff as a type of ‘steering wheel’ for the ship. He jerked the staff to the left, trying to stop the ship from crashing into the forest. Unfortunately, the plan didn’t work, and they very roughly landed on the forest floor, skidding through the trees. It squealed to a halt a few moments later, the ship’s magic powering down. Douxie was knocked back, tripping over his feet and falling to the floor. His head hit the metal floor, and pain erupted through his skull. In his dragon form, Archie fluttered over to check on his master.

“Ugh.” Douxie groaned as he sat up, a hand on the back of his head. He could feel a small lump forming where his hand was. “Head… hurts…” He stated in a slurred manner, vision becoming blurring. Maybe he shouldn’t have sat up.

“Whoa, what happened?” A voice, owned by Toby Domzalski, asked in concern as he, along with his friends, came running up to the crashed ship.

Claire spotted Douxie lying on the ship, looking worse than he probably felt. She climbed over the railing, running towards her teacher. “Teach!” She cried out.

Douxie mustered up enough energy to say, “Oh, hey… Claire…,” before passing out completely. Jim and Toby joined next to the master wizard’s side, Toby looking at his wizard friend with concern.

“I told you not to over-exert the ship’s magical capacity,” Archie scolded the unconscious nine hundred- and nineteen-year-old boy. He sighed, and faced his friends, who were looking for an answer as to what happened. “The Arcane Order, they led Douxie astray, and…” Archie told them, glancing at his master.

“Wait, where’s Nari?” Jim asked. Though he never really talked to her, and only heard from his friends who she was, he considered the plant demigod his friend.

Archie wielded a sorrowful face, the friends’ reactions either being a gasp accompanied by an “Oh, no…” or just pure, wide-eyed shock. The familiar looked back at Douxie, and told the others, “We should go somewhere safe; get him checked up on too.”

“We could go to my house,” Jim offered. “My mom’s a doctor, so she’ll be able to help with his injury.” Archie nodded, watching as Jim and Claire helped an unconscious Douxie stand on his feet. The boy did not flinch as he was taken off the ship, but he did scrunch up his face in disappointment, muttering something unintelligible.

It was a quiet walk as the group headed to Jim’s home—well, except for Toby calling Krel and telling him to meet at Jim’s place. Archie continued to watch his slumbering master. He was happy Douxie was getting some sleep; ever since arriving in New York City, he had to juggle a few jobs at once to keep paying the rent for their apartment.

They soon came to Jim’s home, Krel standing in front of the house. Surprisingly, his sister, Aja, was also with him. The alien siblings looked up from their phones, watching as Claire and Jim helped Douxie up the few stairs and into the house. Archie followed them, not wanting to waste a single moment without his master.

“What has happened?” Krel asked, not fazed by small, adorable dragon. Aja, however, was, as she trailed behind Archie, staring in wonder at the cuddly beast. “Did the Arcane Order attack?”

“Sort of, kinda?” Toby tried to answer, not too sure himself. He noticed Aja through the window, and asked the alien-tech wiz, “Wait, Aja’s here, too?”

“Mmm-hmm,” Krel said, nodding. “Was able to get some off-duty, finally, though I do wish I didn’t give her her phone. Been texting that blonde oaf all day.” With that, the two entered the house, going to join their friends in the living room. Douxie laid on the couch, muttering in his sleep. His familiar, now as a cat, sat beside him, Aja petting Archie behind the ear.

“Did you know the cute flying beast can turn into a cat?” Aja said aloud to no one in particular. “Lively.” She added in an undertone. Archie shook his head, swatting her hand away with a paw.

“Will you stop that?” Archie said in annoyance before jumping down and nuzzling his head in one of Douxie’s hands that limply hung over the couch’s edge. He purred. Aja cooed at the cat, but he paid no mind to it.

Jim’s mother entered the room, standing next to her son. “Looks like your friend just has a mild concussion.” The tension that somehow was being built up in the room eased to a standstill. “I advise’d him to take it easy for a week or two, just to be safe.”

Archie chuckled, amused at the thought of trying to get Hisirdoux to ‘take it easy’. He was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt all pairs of eyes in the room stare at him. He knew what they wanted to hear, but he didn’t know how to tell it. He felt guilty for letting the Arcane Order take Nari… If he had just stopped his master from leaving to catch that blasted Shadow Mephit, maybe Nari would still be with them…

Archie let out a deflated sigh before telling them all what had happened in New York City. Everyone contemplated over it all once he was finished speaking.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.” Toby said in his usual Toby-esque manner. “If the Arcane Order has Nari, then why haven’t they already unleashed whatever-it-is that’s inside the Genesis Seals?”

“Why would they have mammals?” Aja inputted, confused. Krel motioned for him and his sister to go to the side, so that Krel could get the Queen of Akiridions-5 up-to-date with everything. Meanwhile, Archie answered Toby’s question with an adjustment of his glasses.

“Because they need more than just Nari to do it,” Archie said. Toby and Claire glanced at each other before looking back at the familiar.

“What do you mean?” Claire asked the cat as Aja and Krel came back into the room. “Why didn’t anyone tell us this earlier?”

“Because we were on a time crunch, and the main priority was to not let the Arcane Order get their grimy fingers on Nari. Sadly, that failed,” Archie told Claire, glancing at the peaceful Douxie that laid on the couch. “The Sacred Grounds is the power source of all things magic, and, from what I’ve heard, can open the Genesis Seals. Only a few have gone to the dangerous grounds and returned to tell the tale.”

“How dangerous can these Sacred Grounds be?” Krel asked, giving off a nervous chuckle.

Archie deadpanned him. “ _Very_ dangerous.”

[{^^—^^}]

Douxie groaned as he shifted under the blankets. He woke up, eyes blinking to rid the sleepiness that overcame him. As he sat up and rubbed his head, he noticed he had an audience that consisted of his friends—and also Jim’s mother, who handed him a glass of water.

“How are you feeling?” Mrs. Lake asked the wizard who took a sip from the cup in his hands. He set the cup down on the coffee table in front of the sofa, before answering the doctor.

“Like I hit my head on concrete,” Douxie said. He turned to his familiar, who now sat next to him. “What happened?” he asked Archie. “Last thing I remember, I was chasing a Shadow Mephit, and—Nari!” In an instant, he stood up, but soon regretted that as he held his head, becoming dizzy all of a sudden. He sat back down, the dizziness going away slightly.

Archie watched as Jim’s mother went into the kitchen. “She told us you have a mild concussion, and that you should take it easy,” he teased Hisirdoux. The boy replied with a grumble. “Her words, not mine.” The cat added, shrugging. A long silence entered the conversation until Jim broke it with a question.

“So, we just have to stop the Arcane Order before they get to the Sacred Grounds, right?” The former Trollhunter asked.

Douxie looked up from his hands. “The Sacred Grounds? Wait, you mean the legend?” Jim nodded hesitantly. “Bleeding Balroths, it’s _real_?”

“Very much so,” Archie told his master. “And to answer you question,” he addressed Jim, “the answer is no.”

“No?” Toby asked, eating a piece of candy he had in his pocket. “Then how are we supposed to stop the Order?”

“The answer is quite simple, really.” Archie hopped on the coffee table, standing on his hind legs. “We must find the Staff of Aiyah. _That_ is what holds the power to stop the Arcane Order once and for all.”

“But that is just a children’s tale!” Douxie objected. “A fable parents made up!”

“The Sacred Grounds was just a legend,” Archie said, “and yet, they’re real.” Douxie had no idea what to say to that, so he kept quiet. “There is one problem, though,” Archie continued before anyone could say a word. “I… have no idea where the staff is.” Everyone groaned at this. “But! But I _do_ know the person who might know where it is.”

“It’s settled, then,” Jim spoke. “We find the staff-.”

“Then say goodbye evil demigods!” Toby laughed.

Archie hopped off the table, flicking his tail at Claire. “Come on, we haven’t got all day,” Archie told the sorceress. “England has a different time region, and I’d hate to barge in on them during the middle of the night.”

There was a pause before Toby exclaimed, “Wait, England?!”

[{^^—^^}]

Nari could smell the campfire smoke and morning dew, though she didn’t dare open her eyes. She listened to Bellroc and Skrael’s words as they conversed.

“What are we doing out in the forest?” Bellroc demanded. The ice-wielding demigod made a small flurry of snowflakes in the air. “We should be heading for the Sacred Grounds!”

“Where would the fun be in that?” Skrael chuckled darkly, letting out a puff of cold air from his mouth. “We have those guardians’ precious demigod. I’m sure they’ll be coming for her.” Bellroc glared at him with a fiery passion.

“Besides…” he added with a malicious smile. “You know how it goes. We not only need the Sacred Grounds and our sister to open the Genesis Seals, but also… _him_.”

“He is just a tale wizards made up to get their young ones to sleep!” Bellroc roared back. They walked up to Skrael, eyes squinting in anger. “If you are wrong, and he _is_ just a tale…”

Nari gasped suddenly as she realized who they were talking about, opening her eyes in the process. “No…”

“Well, look who decided to join us,” Skrael said, chuckling as he floated off the ground by an inch and made his way over to Nari. She flinched when he put his sharp fingernails on her cheek. “Finally done napping like a mortal?”

“You’ll never open the Seals!” Nari shot back at him. “I won’t help you do it!” She tried to call out to nature to help restrain her brother in roots, but Skrael beat her to it, encasing her body in ice.

“We’ll see about that…” Skrael said, staring right into Nari’s eyes. “Now… you’re going to tell us exactly where he's hiding. Or say goodbye to your friends.” Nari gulped in fear as she watched Bellroc disappear in flames. “Which shall it be?”

_Forgive me, my friends…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd love to see who your guesses on who you think is "him".
> 
> See you in the next chapter!


	3. Death Hollows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Douxie and co. work their way through Death Hollows when a banshee suddenly attacks them.

Douxie watched Jim and his mother say goodbyes to one another as he stood near the purplish portal Claire had made. His mind wandered back to his parents, to when everything was alright. But then, one day, out of thin air, he had used magic to rejuvenate a flower that had wilted in his room. His parents had found out, and, well…. They didn’t take kindly to him from then on and casted him out of their lives in fear of being executed for harboring a wizard.

Douxie pinched the bridge of his nose as he sighed and shook his head. He couldn’t blame them; his powers had been raw—untamed and wild. He had been a danger to them, even if he hadn’t the slightest intention of hurting them.

Jim’s mother gave her son one final hug, kissing him on the forehead and telling him one final goodbye before retreating to the porch where Aja and Krel stood; the Akiridions thought it’d be best for them to stay and protect Arcadia from whatever threat that may come instead of journeying off with them. Jim walked over to the others, who, like Douxie, waited near the portal.

“Are you sure about coming?” Claire asked her boyfriend, setting a hand on his shoulder. “You don’t have your amulet, or even a weapon for that matter, and-.”

“It’ll be fine, Claire,” Jim assured the sorceress, now holding both her hands in his. He gave her a smile, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. “I’ve got the best sorceress to protect me.”

“Ahem.” Archie coughed, eyebrows raised.

Jim sheepishly laughed. “And you guys, too, obviously. Now, come on,” he continued, not wanting to waste a moment, “let’s go find that staff.”

The teenagers and familiar headed into the portal, ready to face whatever laid on the other side.

[{^^—^^}]

“We’ve been walking forever!” Toby complained, his feet dragging on the grassy floor of the forest. The moon’s light peeked in-between the trees’ branches and leaves, lighting up their surroundings. A cool breeze fluttered in the forest, a few leaves twirling in the wind like a ballerina before settling back onto the ground. An owl hooted far off in the distance, and crickets chirped softly in the night.

It had been almost thirty minutes since their expedition for the Staff of Aiyah began. Archie led them through the forest for the whole duration, not letting any of them stop and rest. Douxie had to admit, his familiar was being _very_ persistent in the task at hand—so much so, in fact, that it seemed a tad suspicious.

The wizard left his post at the back to join up with his dragon friend. “You know, Arch, we could use some rest right about now,” he tried to convince the dragon. It didn’t work.

“What we need is to pick up the pace!” The familiar shot back. He flew up high in the air, the group bringing their attention up to the winged beast. “It’ll only be another hour or so until we’re out of this forest!”

“Why do you want us to hurry up so badly?” Douxie asked his friend, crossing his arms and squinting his eyes at him. “It’s just a forest.” He gestured to their surroundings.

“’Just a forest’?” Archie scoffed at his master’s obliviousness. “Clearly you haven’t read _A Brief Lore on Mythical Grounds_. Do you not recognize this forest?”

“It’s a… forest?” Douxie replied back, befuddled as to what Archie was trying to prove. “Cut to the chase, Arch. What’s so different about this particular forest?”

A bone-chilling howl echoed in the distance, before being replaced by a long spine-tingling wail. Douxie let his staff, disguised as a guitar, appear in his hand. He took a fighting stance, eyes penetrating the dark, searching for whatever made the noise.

“What was that?” Toby asked, pulling out his war hammer. Claire summoned purple magic in her hands, it’s glow illuminating half her face. Jim picked up a thick long stick, ready to use it as a sword. A whoosh sounded to the group’s left, a mysterious silhouette quickly passing by them. Only Douxie and Archie caught a glimpse of the horrid beast.

“Fuzz buckets.” Douxie swore under his breath, gripping his ‘axe’ even tighter. He never had encountered a specter like this and only heard horror stories of them. Of how they gauged out their prey’s eyes, ripped every limb from their body. These creatures could suck a living one’s soul out of their body, leaving their prey all but an empty carcass ripe for the taking. In short, these abominations were deadly, and only a few had survived to tell the tale of them.

“ _This_ is why I wanted us to hurry up!” Archie scolded the rock lover, flying at shoulder’s height next to him. Douxie gave him a quick, apologetic look before returning to scan his surroundings. “This forest is home to banshees,” the dragon added with a smidge of fear.

“Wait, what are-?” Jim started to ask, looking over his shoulder at Archie. The former Trollhunter felt a rough, pale hand grab his neck, squeezing it tightly to try to extinguish his life. Claire shot a bolt of purple magic at the banshee, it letting go of Jim, baring its teeth at her and hissing. Jim coughed as he hunched over on the ground, sucking in the air he had lost moments prior.

The banshee went for Claire, but the girl already opened a portal and hopped out of another one next to Douxie. The banshee screamed before charging at the magic wielders; its sharp, long fingernails rose in the air, ready to strike. Archie swooped in, blasting hot flames at it. Taking this as an opportune moment, Douxie and Claire both blasted magic at it, but the magical bolts missed their target, hitting a tree instead.

Toby charged at it, war hammer raised high in the sky. He swung his weapon at the horrid creature which dodged his attacks. It grabbed Toby by the wrist, raising him up to its eye level. Toby let out a nervous chuckle, before letting out a scream as he was thrown back. He came into contact with a tree and fell to the ground, eyes rolling into the back of his head as he became unconsciousness.

Jim, now standing, yelled at the banshee before running straight at it. He regretted doing that, as he too was thrown against a tree, rendering unconsciousness as he fell down to the forest flooring.

“Jim!” Claire shouted, running over to her boyfriend, wanting to make sure he was all right. Douxie looked on at the creature as it let out a blood-curdling wail. It headed straight for Douxie—and Douxie stood there, frozen.

“Douxie!” Archie yelled, making a beeline for his master.

“Oh, no!” Claire watched the scene unfold before her eyes.

Douxie couldn’t remember all of what happened next. One moment, he was in front of the banshee. The next, he was behind it. Black, swirling magic formed around his hands, and his eyes become covered in inky darkness. He floated up from the ground, the unfamiliar magic surrounding him. The banshee hissed at the sight, still determined to kill them all. It jumped up in the air, ready to punch Douxie to the ground—but it didn’t come.

The banshee howled in pain as Douxie set a hand on its rough, bald head. His eyes shone brightly, the light emitting from them a shade of silver. His mouth moved, almost like he was chanting, but no words escaped his lips. The banshee continued to scream, before finally exploding into tiny pieces. The banshee’s remains carried off into the night sky by the wind.

Douxie’s eyes turned back into their natural yellow, the black magic suddenly gone from his body. He sucked in a large breath before falling to the ground with a thud. His ears rung and his vision became blurry. His body urged him to sleep, but he insisted to stay awake.

“Douxie!” Archie called to him as he, with a flash of magic, changed into his cat form. He ran to his friend’s side. “Douxie, are you all right?” he asked, worry evident in his voice. The wizard in question said nothing, as he finally succumbed to the dreariness.

Claire kept by Jim’s side, not wanting to leave him unprotected. “What was that?” She glanced at her teacher. “Did he—did he just use…?”

“No, that can’t be right,” Archie stated, shaking his head as he stared at his master. “In all the centuries I’ve known him, Douxie _never_ used shadow magic. Truthfully, he probably wouldn’t even be good at it.”

“But then, what else could explain what he just did?” Claire countered. Jim groaned as he began waking up. A wolf howled in the distance, and a wail sounded not far off either.

“I’d hate to stay here any longer,” Archie said, “but most of us are injured, or unconscious.”

“I’ll gather the firewood,” Claire offered, before heading off to do just that. A few minutes later, she came back with a handful of sticks, piling them in the center. Archie turned into a dragon, lighting the unlit campfire on fire.

Jim had been awake when Claire got back, so the two conversed as Archie kept lookout. He stole a few glances at his master, who muttered unintelligible things in his sleep. He sighed before taking off in the air, circling the makeshift camp.

A few hours passed by without any more specters or demons giving them any hassle. Quietness engulfed the group for a few moments, until Douxie abruptly woke with a start, startling a sleeping Archie, who was curled up next to the now-burnt-out campfire. A small stack of smoke slithered up from it, heading east, away from them all.

Sitting up, Douxie looked around, seeing most of his friends asleep—except for Jim, who sat underneath a tree, lazily playing with a stick. Jim noticed the wizard had woken up and invited Douxie to join him. He obliged, sitting next to him. A rather awkward silence took place for quite some time.

“So…” Jim started, hand subconsciously tapping on his legs, which were propped up close to his chest. “Couldn’t sleep?” he added.

Douxie sighed as he stared into the ominous darkness that surrounded the camp, legs also propped up against his chest. “Something like that,” Douxie muttered. A few minutes passed before he continued, “I just… I-I couldn’t save Merlin in time, and now, with Nari being captured, I…” He paused, wiping away a tear that trickled down his cheek. “I feel like I could have done something—anything, to save him! But I didn’t, and-.”

“Hey, it’s not your fault,” Jim told his friend. Douxie wiped away a few more tears, looking at the ex-Trollhunter, confusion building up inside him. Of course it was his fault! He could have saved his master, but instead, he sat there and watched him die in his arms.

“I kind of felt that way, too, with Arrrgghh and Draal…” Jim continued, laying the stick down next to him. “I though I could’ve-.” Douxie put up a finger to Jim’s mouth, indicating him to stop talking.

“Shh!” Douxie shushed. He stood up, eyeing the foreboding darkness around them. A quick movement to his left caught his eye, but when he looked in that direction, whatever had moved vanished. He could hear Jim standing, gripping onto the stick he had played with earlier.

“What is it?” Jim whispered to Douxie. The latter was about to answer, when all of a sudden people, dressed in light blue, silky robes, stepped out of the shadows. Each one had a rune tattooed onto their forehead and looked to be peaceful allies.

“We mean you no harm,” one—a young man with short brown hair—said as he stepped closer to Douxie, whose hands glowed blue with magic. The master wizard could see his friends now waking and began to huddle next to him and Jim.

“Uh, who are these people?” Claire asked, clearly frightened by their sudden presence. She held onto Jim’s arm.

“Yeah, and why do they have weird symbols on their forehead?” Toby added, bringing out his war hammer. “I have a war hammer, and I’m not afraid to use it!” He added with a threatening glare.

“We mean you no harm,” the man repeated. “We are druids, people who’ve resided in Death Hollows—this forest—for centuries.” He gestured to the forest. “It looks like you all could use a proper resting place. Come, follow us back to our abode.”

Douxie eyed the man before looking to his familiar. “Druids are said to be kind and welcoming,” Archie told him, hovering in the air whilst in his dragon form. He changed back to a cat, leaping onto the ground. “We’d be more than welcome to stay the night in your home,” he added to the druid.

“Come along, then. Our home is not far off.” The druid replied, before starting to walk off, Douxie and Archie following at the back. The wizard felt like something was off—not right.

“Are you sure they’re peaceful?” Douxie whispered to Archie, who flapped his wings as he flew in sync besides his master.

“I’m sure,” Archie replied before picking up speed and flying over to Claire and Jim. Douxie wondered if his friend was right. Maybe he was just being paranoid. But then again, maybe the gut-feeling he was having was trying to tell him they were walking into a death trap.

Hisirdoux hoped for the life of him that it was the former.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is kind of filler, and then the one after that is also filler.... They'll probably be a bit longer, as I'm now treating them like episodes for tv series.


	4. Druids

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After staying the night at the camp, Douxie must figure out how to save his friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys! I'm back! Yay! But for real, this chapter took a while, and I have no idea why. Hopefully, the next chapter (which I'm excited to write) will come out sooner.

“So, back there…” Claire started walking next to Douxie as they continued to head for the druids' camp. A bird flew above them and into the night, and Douxie could faintly make out the sound of an owl hooting. “With the banshee and all that…”

In his cat form, Archie looked up at his master. “You used shadow magic to destroy the banshee.” The cat cut to the chase. Claire directed a soft glare at him before her attention went back to Douxie, whose face was contorted with surprise and confusion. He had done _what_?

“What’re you talking about, Arch?” The boy asked his familiar. “I don’t have the gift for shadowmancy. Besides, I thought one of you guys destroyed it.”

Claire and Archie shared a look before proceeding with the conversation. “Wait, so you don’t remember turning the banshee into ash?” Claire asked him. “Like nothing at all?”

Douxie shook his head before joining in on Jim’s and Toby’s conversation. The cat and witch shared a look once more before catching up with him. It was another few minutes before they finally arrived at their destination.

"Here we are,” the druid who spoke earlier announced as they entered a small clearing. The druids in their company headed off, back to their friends and family. The one who spoke, however, showed them around their abode. A cluster of tents here and there served as homes for them, and another tent seemed to serve as an infirmary of sorts. The group headed for the decorated tent at the end. A few druids peeked out of tents upon hearing their arrivals, greeting them with cheeriness, and, occasionally, some flowers or a fruit.

“Let me talk to our Elder before you can enter,” the man—his name found out to be Kuri—told them before heading into the tent. Douxie watched as a little girl ran up to them, hugging a strange-looking, straw-made doll close to her chest.

“You’re pretty!” The girl exclaimed to Claire, who looked flattered. “I wanna be as pretty as you when I grow up!”

“Aw. Thank you.” Claire chuckled. Just then, the girl’s mother came up to them, putting her hands on her daughter’s shoulders. Unlike the others, Douxie sensed something was… off about the mother. To be frank, he felt something was wrong with all of them. But then again, he could just be overthinking things. After all, he never had met a druid; he only heard stories of them told from books, and Archie _had_ said they were kind and welcoming.

Just then, as the mother and daughter hurried off, Kuri exited the Elder’s tent. “The Elder says he can see you all now,” Kuri said, opening the tent’s entrance for them. The group entered, taking it all in. A pinecone scent filled the air, and the floor was covered in a large, wooly rug. There wasn’t much furniture, except for a dresser that sat in one corner of the large tent, and a comfy cot that sat next to it. On the other side stood a wooden table and a few chairs, the table vacant of food. In the center of the tent sat an elderly man with short grey hair, and a beard that was in length of his shoulders. Unlike the others, he wore a silky robe that had different shades of red mixed into it, and did not have a rune on his forehead. A wooden, elvish staff with an old, cracked gemstone sat next to him.

“Leave us, Kuri,” the Elder ordered politely with a hand gesture. Kuri bowed before exiting the tent. The Elder brushed off his robe as he stood up and faced the group. When his eyes locked onto Douxie, they dilated in shock, but Douxie, nor the others, noticed that.

“The druid, Kuri, invited us to stay here the night,” Archie explained. The Elder’s eyes widened upon hearing the animal speak. He had never been face-to-face with a familiar until now.

“There doesn’t seem to be a problem with that,” the Elder said calmly, “as long as your friend over there doesn’t touch my collectibles.” He added, gesturing to Toby, who was about to touch a wooden, carved bracelet that sat on the dresser.

“Tobes,” Jim whispered to his friend. Toby walked back over to them, mildly disappointed that he couldn’t put on the bracelet. Douxie was glad his friend didn’t, however. The jewelry could’ve been cursed for all they knew, and Douxie had heard of what happened that one time with a certain box.

"Now, I’ll let Kuri show you all to your tents,” the Elder said right as Kuri re-entered the room. Before they left, Claire told the Elder, “Thanks for letting us stay here and everything.”

“It’s not a problem,” the Elder replied in a kind voice. “We druids are known to be hospitable, you know.” He chuckled to himself. “You may be surprised how much you’ll enjoy it here.” With that, the group and Kuri headed to their sleeping quarters for the rest of the night, which was tucked behind a few other tents, near a stream that weaved through the forest.

Jim and Claire took tents next to each other, and Toby took another one sitting by the stream. Douxie and Archie shared the other one which sat near a tree stump. Everyone settled in quite nicely, and, after receiving a meal cooked by a few druids, headed for bed.

Archie watched as his master twisted and turned in his makeshift bed, muttering nonsense in his sleep. The dragon snuggled up against him, purring softly to comfort Douxie. It seemed to work, as the rest of the night was peaceful and calm.

[{^^—^^}]

The next day was strange, to say the least.

Douxie yawned as he rubbed his sleepy eyes, stretching his aching arms to get his blood flowing. He grabbed a strawberry from a bowl one of the druids had given him the previous night, the juices from the fruit making his mouth less dry.

It was odd—Archie wasn’t in the tent with him. Douxie shrugged it off; _probably just went to hunt,_ Douxie concluded. He exited the tent, ready to get going with the quest at hand. But instead, he found Claire in… druid robes? And Jim meditating? And… Toby sitting on a chair like a king would with a throne, being fed various fruits by druids?

Douxie blinked and rubbed his eyes. Nope. It all was still there. What was going on? Deciding to get to the bottom of this strange occurrence, Douxie walked past some druids and over to his pupil.

“Um, Claire, shouldn’t we, I don’t know,” Douxie stated, using hand gestures for emphasis. “Maybe say goodbye and continue on our quest to retrieve the Staff of Aiyah, and, therefore, save the world?”

“Oh, look, Claire,” one druid girl said in a chipper tone, braiding another girl’s hair. “It’s that wizard boy. Maybe he’s here to ask you out?”

Douxie sputtered, choking on air.

Instead of responding to the girl’s comment, Claire told the master wizard, “I’m sorry, but… who are you again? What’s this quest you’re talking about? Druids don’t go on adventures—we tend to nature to please the higher ones.”

Douxie couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Was Claire bewitched? Had someone put a hex or curse on her? No, a curse would have to have been on her for a while for it to work… Maybe Jim or Toby could help with this?

Nope. They couldn’t. Jim’s case was that he couldn’t be disturbed, and Toby’s was that he was “busy”. Douxie rubbed the bridge of his nose, sighing. His friends were acting as if they had been druids all their lives and he had no clue what to do.

“What in Ambrosius is going on?” A familiar—ha, familiar…—voice echoed Douxie’s internal question as Archie himself landed on the ground, transforming back into a cat. Douxie pulled his hand away that was previously over his face.

“I have no idea, Arch,” Douxie explained, looking down at his friend. “I woke up this morning and found them acting like this.”

“Hmm… strange,” Archie said. He hopped up onto Douxie’s shoulder. “The other druids are acting like they’ve been here with them for quite a while, too. Do you think someone’s put a hex on them all?”

“Maybe…” Douxie hummed, hand on chin, thinking. If the other druids were acting like Archie said, then maybe the whole camp was hexed? _Knew we shouldn’t have come_ , Douxie thought. “But how do we root out the source of the hex?” he muttered to himself out loud. He scanned the area, looking for any suspicious signs from the druids.

“Douxie,” Archie prodded his master’s shoulder, getting his attention. Douxie watched as Kuri, carrying a fruit bowl, glanced around him with squinted eyes before heading into the Elder’s tent. The wizard and familiar glanced at one another before heading over to the tent. Fortunately, none of the druids seemed to notice them.

Douxie put his hand on the tent’s flap that served as the entrance, peeling it back a smidge to see what was going on inside. Archie settled on top of the boy’s shoulder. Inside, he could see Kuri setting the fruit bowl on the dresser. The Elder meditated in the center of the tent, not bothered by the druid’s acts.

Kuri eyed the wooden bracelet, reaching out his hand to touch it. The Elder’s eyes peeked open for a moment, unaware of what his servant was doing. “Kuri, could you get my clothing ready for tonight?”

Kuri stopped, hand going back to his side. “Yes, master.” He said, immediately going to another side of the room to get the Elder’s pristine clothing ready.

“Arch,” Douxie whispered from the tent’s doorway, wincing as talons dug a little too deep into his skin. “Your talons…”

“Oh,” Archie said, prying off of his master’s shoulder and hovering beside him. “Sorry.”

“What was that?” The Elder asked. _Fuzz buckets!_ Douxie mentally cursed, scanning his surroundings for a hiding spot. A few crates that stacked up on one another caught his eyes, and he quickly hurried over to them, squatting behind them and pressing his back against a tent that sat next to the hiding spot. Archie did the same. The two magical beings held their breath as they heard footsteps coming their way.

One second passed; then three; then five. Douxie heard the Elder’s footsteps stop before starting up again and then fading away as he returned to his abode. The two let out a satisfying sigh as they came out from behind the crates.

“We almost were caught,” Archie chided, flicking his tail.

“Key-word: _Almost_ ,” Douxie shot back, smiling. Archie rolled his eyes at his master, before hearing footsteps coming their way. Archie flew up in a defensive stance, ready to protect Douxie. The latter, however, put his hands behind his back, ready to use magic to defend himself if need be.

The footsteps belonged to Kuri. In spite of Douxie’s hint, Archie kept his firm stance. Kuri noticed this, so he said, “I’m not the enemy.” Douxie glanced at his familiar, then back at the druid. “What you saw in there—I was trying to help break the hex, so that my people could be free of the Elder’s control.” _So the bracelet is the source of the hex?_ Douxie thought as he eyed Kuri.

“If they’re under the hex, then why aren’t you?” Archie asked with authority.

“I could ask the same of your master.” Kuri gestured to said person. Huh. He _did_ have a point. Why _wasn’t_ he under the hex, too? Continuing, Kuri said, “It doesn’t matter who’s under the hex and who isn’t. What does is saving my people, and your friends.”

Douxie’s tense muscles relaxed upon hearing this. He cocked his head as he looked at his familiar, who sighed before letting his posture become friendlier… well, as friendly as a dragon’s posture could be.

“So, how exactly do we get the bracelet?” Douxie voiced the question all of them were wondering, his voice casual, as if he was talking to his friends. Not that Kuri was a friend… He didn’t trust him fully. But, at the same time, they had nothing else to go off of besides the bracelet being the hex’s source. Being the servant of the Elder, Kuri knew his master’s schedule—which meant he knew when the Elder left his tent.

[{^^—^^}]

“I’ve been wondering…” Douxie started as he, his familiar, and the druid waited for the right time to execute their plan. Kuri had said that today was a “sacrificial night”, where they would give some food to the higher ups; in a way, it reminded Douxie of a series he had read when he first came to Arcadia. Every druid would be there, including his friends and the Elder. It would the perfect time to snatch the hexed bracelet from under him. “Why did you let us come here, if you knew what would happen?”

“I…” Kuri hesitated, breathing in deeply before letting the carbon-dioxide escape from his mouth. He watched the campfire that sat in-between them; Douxie and Archie on one side, and Kuri on the other. Kuri’s tent sat a few feet away from them. “A few decades ago, I had stumbled upon this forest. I became lost, scared. I was making a campfire when the stalkling attacked me. I thought I was about to die!” He paused, letting the information sick in. “But then… Then the Elder appeared and used his magic to make the stalkling turn around and leave. He helped nurse the few wounds I had; asked if I wanted to stay awhile at his camp. I obliged quickly, but soon enough regretted it.”

“I didn’t even know I was under his control at the time.” He continued. “Not until I accidentally cracked the bracelet. After that, I regained my consciousness, and had full control over myself again.” _So, all we have to do is break the bracelet, and they’ll be themselves again…?_ Douxie thought to himself.

Kuri glanced at the druids as they went about their day. “I don’t think any of them realize what that old man’s doing to them—trying to make a perfect utopia for druids, wanting to control people… And when I heard of a group of people traveling through Death Hollows…” He let his train of thought derail, his sentence trailing off into the abyss. A tense silence washed over the three of them.

It was a few hours later when the Elder left his tent for the sacrificial night. The elderly man asked why they weren’t coming, and Kuri saved them from being found out by telling him that they weren’t feeling all that well. The Elder surprisingly bought it and left them alone.

Kuri made sure no one was in the general vicinity before they headed for the Elder’s tent. Kuri and Archie stayed outside, serving as the observer, so that if someone wanted to enter, they could warn Douxie about it.

The plan was simple—get in, break the bracelet, and get out. Of course they would have to face the elderly man, too, but none of them kept their mind on the thought for now. They needed to focus on breaking the hex right now.

Douxie set foot in the tent, heading over to dresser to grab the bracelet. But it wasn’t there! The young-looking master wizard scanned the place, trying to spot the bracelet. He didn’t see it anywhere. Maybe it was hidden in the drawers for safekeeping?

Douxie threw open the dresser drawers, digging through clothing, trying to feel for the round, wooden object. But it wasn’t there. It _wasn’t there_. Did the Elder keep it on him? Did Kuri lie to them—set them up?

Douxie’s hands balled into fists. He bit his bottom lip, brows furrowed. No, he was going to save his friends and these people! He couldn’t fail! He couldn’t fail like he did with Merlin!

Suddenly, he heard a body thud to the ground, and a hiss from a dragon. His eyes widened. _Nonononono-._

“I heard you and Kuri had a talk earlier,” the Elder answered the unasked question as he stepped into the tent. He held Kuri by the neck of his robe, and had Archie contained in a black, misty, floating cage. The bracelet sat atop the Elder’s wrist on his right hand. “Trying to destroy my perfect little world, are we?”

 _Perfect little…?_ “You’re controlling them!” Douxie spat. “You’re using magic to-.”

“To create a peaceful utopia for druids,” the Elder interrupted, his demeanor calm, yet serious. He strode a few feet towards the wizard who took up an offensive posture. His bracelet shimmered with blue, and a blue ball of magic appeared in his hand, the glow emanating onto his face.

A second passed before Douxie made the first move. He outstretched his arm, and a blast of magic was sent in the Elder’s direction. The old man produced a black barrier, the magical blast incinerating upon touching it. The barrier then fizzled away into nonexistence as the Elder let the cage Archie was in thud to the ground.

Black magic swirled off of the Elder’s body like smoke from a fire. Douxie barely had any time to react as an electric-like, dark bolt came his way, almost grazing his face. Douxie dodged it, before sending another spell towards the old man’s way. But this one wasn’t like the last one—it was a blinding spell. The blinding spell crashed into the Elder’s face, the Elder grimacing. He shook his head, trying to rid the blindness off of him. Jokes on him, a blinding spell lasted for a full minute.

Douxie made his move, charging at the old man. Both arms were outstretched, hands ready to grasp the wooden bracelet. His hands only grazed the wood, however, as the Elder grabbed one of his arms. Searing pain coursed through Douxie’s body. He yanked away his arm, holding it close to his chest. He grimaced, looking down and seeing a burn on his wrist.

“Just because I cannot see, does not mean my other senses have switched off, boy,” the Elder said. Douxie dodged one of his bolts, still clutching his arm. He had to find a way to destroy that bracelet, but how?

Kuri groaned softly as he woke up. Through his semi-blurry vision and throbbing headache, he noticed the Elder, and the wizard locked in battle. Beside him, Archie was trying to break open the cage so that he could help.

Kuri stood up and limped over to the Elder; he had put up quite a fight for a druid. He clutched the Elder’s shoulders, arms wrapping around his neck. “Hurry,” the druid said through clenched teeth. “I can’t… hold him for long.”

Seizing the moment, Douxie ran up to the Elder and tried to slip the bracelet off. It didn’t budge. “You think… you can just take it?” The Elder fumed as he tried to break free of the druid’s hold. “You’re nothing but a worthless boy who knows beginner’s magic!”

“Already heard that insult,” Douxie muttered to himself. He searched quickly through his bracelet, trying to find the right spell for the job. He smirked once he did, letting the spell flow from the bracelet and onto the palm of his hand. This spell was one Douxie hardly ever used—heck, he hadn’t even used it until now!

 _Hope this works._ Douxie thought to himself as he set his hand on the wooden bracelet. Blue, interweaving veins of magic spread through the hexed object like a spider making its web. Once the bracelet was covered in blue, a shining light erupted from it. Douxie and Kuri shielded their eyes, but the Elder did not. He stared at the bracelet with a horrified look. The bracelet suddenly shattered, pieces of wood flying throughout the air and landing in random spots.

“No!” The Elder seethed, trembling in anger. He knocked Kuri off of him as he started to shoot a dark bolt at the boy wizard. But the projectile never reached him, nor left its maker’s hand. A wide-eyed Douxie watched as Kuri impaled the Elder with a spear he had found in the tent.

“You dare try to destroy me?” The Elder roared, ready to turn around and kill the druid. But instead, his body started to crumble. Douxie eyes gaped as he witnessed the screaming Elder became nothing more than a pile of ash, the spear that had impales him dropping to the ground with a clink. The cage imprisoning Archie disappeared into oblivion.

“What an unfortunate end for him,” Archie commented as he flew over to his master. “But, at least we saved our friends and those druids.”

A girl with a big, white streak in her black hair, wearing purple armor, entered the tent; it was Claire. “Douxie…? What happened? Who was…?” Behind her, Jim and Toby set foot in the tent, also wearing confusion on their faces.

“Long story short,” Douxie explained, arms folded across his chest, “you guys were hexed into being perfect, little druids, along with the people here. Me and Kuri managed to break what the hex was bound to and also managed to end the evil that was behind it.” He gestured to the pile of ash. “You’re welcome.”

Just then, a commotion coming from outside was heard. The druids must be gaining consciousness. “I better go and explain things to them,” Kuri stated, starting for the door. He paused when his hand rested partially on the tent’s flap. He looked over his shoulder at Douxie, who stuck out his tongue and did a gesture he wasn’t familiar with. Maybe he was imagining it, but something didn’t feel right with the boy wizard. He smiled back at Douxie and then left him and his friends alone in the tent.

“Teach, your wrist.” Claire pointed out upon seeing the burn the Elder had left on him. “Does it hurt, or…?”

“Oh, this?” Douxie glanced at the burn mark before looking at his semi-worried student. “It’s fine. Just a little burn, that’s all.”

“I could take a look,” Jim suggested. “I might have picked up a few things from my mom.” He rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling in embarrassment.

Douxie was about to reject his offer, but Archie gave him a stern glare that meant, “You _will_ let him take a look, and if you don’t let him, you’ll have to face my wrath.” Reluctant, he complied with Jim’s proffer, letting him take a look at it. If it’s one thing Douxie knew about dragons, it’s that you _shouldn’t_ get on their bad side. Meanwhile, as this was happening, Toby decided to look around the tent for any souvenirs.

As he did, though, Toby accidentally tripped over his feet, landing face-first into the ground. Claire hurried over to help him up. As Toby rubbed his forehead, he caught a glimpse of something shiny under the cot. “Whoa, what’s that?” he commented, going over and picking up the object.

“Jim! Jim!” Toby ran over to his best friend, who was wrapping a bandage that he took from his backpack around the minor burn. Douxie winced a little, but no one noticed it. No one except for Archie, of course. “Look what I found!”

Jim finished wrapping the bandage around the wizard’s wrist before turning his attention to Toby. His best friend held a sword—a medieval iron sword, to be exact. “Now you have something to defend yourself with!” Toby exclaimed, letting Jim have the sword. Surprisingly, it felt lightweight, and had no dents or scratches, almost as if it was in fact brand new.

“Probably has a spell of some sort cast on it,” Douxie thought out loud. “All things considered…” He quickly glanced back at the remains of the Elder. The group of friends then exited the tent, ready to head out. They passed by druids, who kept on thanking the young master wizard for saving them. As they came to the camp’s entrance, Kuri bade them one final goodbye, saying, “I hope you all are safe on your journey, wherever that may be.”

As they walked from the camp, and onward to their destination, Douxie wanted to hope they would have a safe journey. But, as the journey dealt with the Arcane Order, he knew the truth. It would never be safe until they save the world—and defeat the Order.

Unbeknownst to them all, another threat loomed closer to them than they realized…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm currently in need of ideas for the chapters, since I'm doing it in a TV-style fashion (with each chapter being an "episode"). Just comment below what you're idea is, and, if I use that idea, I'll credit you in the notes at the beginning.
> 
> Another thing: I'm not replacing Excalibur. I just need Jim to have a weapon so that he can defend himself.


	5. Strange Thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something's up with Douxie.....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, sooooo.... This was supposed to be longer, but I split the chapter up into 2 because I didn't want you guys to wait long for an update.

“Can’t Claire… just portal us… there…” Toby panted as he trekked alongside his best friend. They had finally reached the end of the forest called Death Hollows and now were walking through a wooded area close to civilization. It had been a full day since the druid incident. They hadn’t stopped walking since this morning, wanting to get to their destination, and not “slack off”, as Archie put it.

“You now just thought of that?” Jim chuckled to himself, smiling as he shifted his sword’s handle in his hand for a better grip.

“No,” Archie answered as he flew above them. “If we went with doing that, we’d most likely end up somewhere completely different.”

Claire nodded, staring at her hands. “He’s right; I need at least an anchor—an idea of where our destination is, to help me with creating a portal. Otherwise, like Archie said, we’d end up stranded and pushing ourselves further behind.”

Toby groaned, still exhausted from all the walking. “But can’t…” A pause. “… we rest.”

“Do you not remember what happened last time we rested?” Archie snapped at the chubby boy who whined silently as they continued on. It was another hour or two when the sun finally started to set, covering them, and their surroundings, in darkness. Soon after, they stumbled across an abandoned druid village. The deteriorating wooden houses, some of which were covered in cobwebs, added a mysterious vibe to the atmosphere.

As they walked through the village, Douxie felt strange—like he knew of this place. No, that wasn’t right; it was as if he had lived here. But he couldn’t of have, could he? His parents were farmers—they had lived near Camelot, not in some forest with druids.

Douxie, unknowingly, wandered off from his friends, and stood in front of a dilapidated home. It was the usual, standard druid home, like all the others they had passed by, but this one had a small, stone fountain in its little front yard. Douxie was overrun with emotions—anger, sadness, hatred. He flinched when a condoling hand rested on his shoulder; Claire. Behind her, his friends watched as teacher and student conversed.

Archie was confused by his master’s sudden change of pace. Why did he look so… downcast? Somehow, this, and the earlier incident with him using shadow magic, was connected. How, he had no clue. Maybe his friend might know something about it…

“Hey… Doux?” Claire’s voice was soft. “You all right?”

“H-Huh…?” Douxie blinked as he felt something roll down his face. He brought his head up to his cheek, touching his face delicately. A thin, wet streak was what he felt. _Why am I… crying?_ He turned to his fellow wizard, who retracted her hand from him. “Oh, um…”

“I hate to say it, but we should make camp for the night,” Archie cut the silence. Next to him, Toby crossed his arms, squinting his eyes at the familiar.

“But you said we had to keep going,” Toby said, to which the familiar rolled his eyes and sighed. “And besides, last time we became weird zombie-druids!” He added with raised hands, a little panicky.

“Yes, well…” Archie hesitated, glancing at Douxie, who wiped some tears from his face. “We need the rest, some more than others.” Archie, along with Jim and Toby, walked off to go set up a campfire; Jim had offered to search for firewood, but Archie reminded him he could just light it with his flames. Claire hesitated before joining them, glancing back at her teacher, brows furrowed in concern. She wanted to help Douxie with whatever was going on with him, but how?

Douxie heard his student’s footsteps faze out of hearing range. He stared at his hand, which was a little wet from touching his face. He glanced back at the druid house as he went to join his friends, confusion still swirling in his mind.

[{^^—^^}]

Sweat coated Jim’s forehead as he muttered in his sleep. It was night, and yet Claire was wide awake, sitting at the head of the makeshift bed (which was created with a thin blanket and their only backpack), softly stroking her boyfriend’s hair. The gentle motion seemed to have worked. Jim stopped muttering, his face contorting from terror to relaxation. She half-heartedly smiled, continuing to stroke through his hair.

Across from the two lovebirds sat the burnt out campfire, and behind that lay a snoring Toby, his blanket only half-covering his body. A wooden house, bigger than most, not as beaten up as the others, sat to the right of them, and provided them all with cool shade earlier. Now, though, it was like a wall between them and the forest, protecting them from any who try to attack them. Not like anyone was out here; but after the fiasco with those druids, Claire was grateful for the mild protection.

“Can’t sleep either?” A voice penetrated the beautiful silence. Claire looked over her shoulder to see Douxie coming up to them. She gave him a small smile as he sat beside her, staring up at the night sky. A few moments passed by, an owl hooting at random intervals being the only thing making any noise. A soft, cooling breeze washed over the village and forest. If it wasn’t for the whole “saving the world” thing, Claire thought the scene playing out before her was… peaceful and calming.

Douxie hesitated before speaking again. “Wanna practice some magic?”

Claire, wanting the peaceful to continue on forever, watched her boyfriend sleep peacefully. She shook her head as she looked at her teacher. “Not right now…” She smiled.

“Ah.” Douxie said. He leaned back, arms propping himself up. “I wouldn’t want to ruin this, either.”

“You’re getting all sappy again, Teach,” Claire giggled, Douxie nudging her some while also laughing. Jim’s girlfriend sighed, hesitating to ask Douxie the burning question stuck in her mind. “Are…” Douxie looked at her. “Are you okay? Earlier, you looked like you were reliving something, and-.”

“To be honest…” Douxie interrupted, not knowing what else to say. What else _could_ he say? It wasn’t like he knew what was going on with him, either! First, hearing of him doing shadow magic (he doesn’t even have the bloody gift!), and then this? He doesn’t even remember killing that banshee!

“I… have no idea.” Douxie pulled his legs up to him, arms wrapping around them. He set his chin atop his knees, staring at a stick that lay in the grass. He desperately wanted to know what was happening to him, but he had a clue that he wouldn’t figure out _what_ until way later.

Claire set a consoling hand on his shoulder. “Whatever is going on, I’m sure we can figure it out.” She gave him a wholehearted smile. Douxie lifted his head, looking at the campfire before turning to face Claire with a smile. He nodded and stood up. Bidding goodnight, Douxie headed back to his makeshift bed, which lay by a tree that stood near a house. He covered himself up in the blanket and turned over on his side so that his back faced Claire and the others. Archie was curled up in cat form at his feet, snoring softly.

Douxie closed his eyes, drifting off into dreamland… or, in his case, nightmareville.

_The surrounding darkness was cold to the touch. Douxie scanned the place, trying to find light. Far away, he thought he saw a small ball of light. He began running, hands reaching out—wanting to feel the light’s warmth, wanting to feel safe. He tripped and stumbled, but continued towards his destination. He was almost there, just a little more-._

_“No!” A boy’s voice, raspy from crying and yelling, cried out. Douxie stopped, eyes flinching. He grasped his head, his breathing starting to speed up._

_“Go, my son!” A mother’s voice called out in desperation._

_"Mama! Papa!” The boy’s voice echoed in the wizard’s mind. “No! Please!”_

_"_ _We’ll be all right, son,” a man’s voice—the boy’s father—comforted his son as best he could. Douxie had no clue who these people were. Why did they sound so familiar? Why did he feel so… terrified?_

_"You let him die…” Skrael’s voice came into his hearing. The darkness faded away, revealing the inside of the Arcane Order’s ship. Nari’s siblings circled him, both wielding their staffs. Bellroc shot flames at the boy wizard, but he dodged it, shooting a bolt of magic back at the fire demigod, though it missed its target entirely._

_“How can you hope to even save your friends, boy, when you didn’t even try to save Merlin!” Bellroc roared. He backed up, shaking his head back and forth. He put his hands on his ears, hoping it would somehow block out their insults._

_“You could’ve saved me, Hisirdoux!”_

_"_ _Mama… Papa…?”_

_"You think you can save your friends?”_

_"_ _You let our master die, little lamb.”_

_“Stop it! Stop it!” Douxie screamed, tripping over his feet and plummeting towards the ground. He waited for the impact, but it never came. He just kept on falling… and falling… and falling… He wanted it to stop so badly—the aching guilt in his chest, the terror consuming him (even the infinite falling); it was like he was being killed from the inside out._

Douxie sat straight up, his breathing heavy and ragged. He scanned his surroundings, seeing his friends slumbering peacefully. Archie shifted his body a little at the end of his makeshift bed. The wizard sighed, flopping back onto the ground, arm over his eyes. He stayed like this for a moment or two, before bringing his blanket up to his shoulders. He curled up, facing the tree next to him, staring at its bark, mind filled with guilt… and confusion. Those people… that boy’s voice… He knew no one who sounded like them. Who were they? More importantly, why were they in his dream? His train of thought drifted out into the sea of dreamland as Douxie slowly gave way to sleep.

[{^^—^^}]

Jim awoke to the rustling of bushes. He stood up, grabbing his sword and holding it in defense. He scanned the surrounding area, but saw nothing except the desolate village and his sleeping friends. He let the grip on his sword loosen, seating the enchanted weapon down while readying to go back to sleep. But a quick movement to his right caught his eye.

Leaving the sword where it was, Jim tiptoed near the tree where Douxie and Archie slept. He searched the woods before him, trying to find whoever—or whatever—made the noise. Squinting his eyes, he could see a silhouette of someone staring at him before running off. Who was that? Bellroc? Skrael?… _Nari_?

Jim glanced back at his friends, hesitating to chase after the mystery person. Ever since the amulet being broken, Jim felt as though he couldn’t protect his friends. At. All. He was the one who always kept his family and friends safe… If risking his life to save his friends’ lives, then so be it.

Jim grabbed the iron sword and headed into the woods.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the p l o t thickens!!!


	6. Face My Fears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stuff goes down. Sorry not sorry lol
> 
> Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter!

The sun shined down on the village, basking it in the warm sunlight. Birds chirped in melodic tones, and wildlife itself was happy and carefree. All should’ve been right with the world, and yet, it wasn’t. As soon as Claire woke up, she noticed someone wasn’t next to her. Jim— _Jim wasn’t next to her_. She reasoned that maybe, just maybe, he was in the village, thinking. She checked every building, but he wasn’t there.

 _Okay, Claire._ Claire thought, trying to not freak out. _Maybe… Maybe he just went to the bathroom? Yeah, yeah, that’s probably what it is… In a few minutes, he’ll come out of the woods…. He’ll come out, and everything will be fine…_ But if he had just gone to the bathroom, why was his sword not here? _M… Maybe for protection?_

But, ten minutes later, Jim still never came back to the camp. Claire didn’t want to wake her friends up, seeing how peaceful they looked sleeping, but she didn’t know what else to do. Sighing, she bent over Toby, and startled him awake (she indirectly woke Archie up too, as he screeched like a cat at the sudden noise).

“Wha-? Claire?” Toby said groggily, rubbing his eyes. “What’s wrong?” he added upon seeing her worried face.

“Jim, he…,” Claire said. “I woke up a-and he wasn’t there!”

“No!” Douxie exclaimed in terror as he bolted out of bed, awoken by his familiar. Douxie’s breathing slowed down to normal intervals once he saw that he was safe—and that he had just woken up from a nightmare in front of his friends. Claire and Toby gave each other a glance of concern for him. “What happened? Wait, where’s Jim?” he asked, seeing that said person wasn’t with them.

“I have no idea,” Claire said, sitting on the ground and pulling her legs up to her chest. “I-I thought I wouldn’t loose him again, but he’s gone, and… and- and I-!” She started to cry. Archie nudged Douxie’s leg as a means of telling him to go comfort her. Douxie did so, sitting in front of her, the campfire behind him.

“Hey, it’ll be all right.” Douxie told his student. “I’m sure this is just a misund-.”

“No, it’s not!” Claire cried, arms sitting on her knees. Her hands balled into fists, knuckles turning white. “I-I checked everywhere, but he wasn’t there. He was probably captured by Order again! It’s my fault that he’s gone! I couldn’t protect him-.” Claire was suddenly embraced in a hug by Douxie. She was in shock for a quick moment, but then let herself cry on his shoulder for a few solid minutes. The two parted, her wiping a few tears from her eyes.

“Thanks, Doux…” Claire sniffled, giving her teacher a half-smile. “I needed that.”

Douxie smiled back, eyes filled with anything but sadness or guilt. But, if one looked closer, the truth would be revealed—he, too, felt guilty. He didn’t want to admit it, but the Bellroc in his nightmare was right; he _wasn’t_ able to protect his friend. He sighed tirelessly and stood up.

After packing up their belongings (which wasn’t much) and stuffing them in the backpack Jim had left behind, they headed into the forest in search of their missing friend. Douxie had suggested that they split up to cover more ground; his friends thought it was a good plan (except for Archie, who had a feeling something bad would happen), and so they headed off in different directions. Archie wanted to go with his master, but Douxie insisted he go with Claire (thankfully, the cat obliged without any complaint).

As Douxie parted from his friends to look for the missing ex-Trollhunter, he couldn’t stand the silence that bore down on him, leaving him to his own thoughts. A light breeze passed by, making the wizard a bit chilly. He pulled his arms closer to him for warmth.

 _"Go, get out of here! Please!”_ A woman’s voice screamed in his mind; a reminiscent thought from the nightmare he had had. Douxie continued walking through the woods, mind boggling with questions. Why did that woman’s voice sound so familiar? It wasn’t his mother’s voice, so who could it possibly be?

A scream pulled Douxie out of his thoughts. He started to pick up the pace, running as fast as he could in the direction the scream had come from. He wasn’t able to make out who had screamed, though, and immediately thought it was Jim. Had the ex-Trollhunter gotten hurt? He dodged around tree limbs and jumped over thick roots, only to stop dead in his tracks in a small, tree-lined clearing.

Two primordial beings stood there, one wearing a stalkling skull while another wore a sadistic grin. Nari was in the small, blue one’s grasp, squirming in his arms. A trickle of green ooze—blood?—trickled down her face and onto the grassy floor.

Douxie’s pupils shrunk in shock and horror, his breathing becoming hitched in his throat. He could see the emotion in the little green demigod’s eyes—terror, sadness, hurt; hurt, because she felt _betrayed_ by the young master wizard. He saw the one question he never wanted to answer in her eyes— _why didn’t he come save her?_

He wanted to reach out to her, grab her, tell her that they couldn’t risk it, that the best course of action was to get the Staff of Aiyah. Wearing waning confidence, he conjured up his staff from his bracelet, taking the form of an actual staff instead of his iconic guitar.

“Let. Her. Go.” Douxie tried to sound demanding, but his voice faltered.

Skrael chuckled, pulling Nari closer to him, his sharp, icy fingernails lightly grazing her cheek. “You really think you can save her?” He snickered, smirking as he gazed upon the boy wizard. “When you couldn’t even save _him_?”

Douxie sputtered, a breath being caught in his throat. The grasp on his staff tightened some. With a growl, he charged at the Order. Bellroc shot flames out of their staff, Douxie deflecting it with a spell of his own. Piercing shards of ice shot straight at him, but he blasted them to smithereens with a quick shout of, “ _Tenebris exilium!”_

The onslaught continued on for some time; flames, then a spell, then shards of ice, then another spell. Over and over it went, looking as if it would never stop. Finally, as Douxie shattered another piece of ice, he crumbled to the ground on his knees, tears forming at the corner of his eyes. His body shook with pain and exhaustion from all the spells he had cast.

He clutched the grass like his life depended on it, knuckles pale white. Voices rung in his head, telling him, “If you couldn’t save your master, how can you hope to save Nari, or your friends, for that matter?” Over and over, the voices taunted him—made him feel guilty, like he was a failure to everyone around him. He hugged himself, hunched over, as he cried, begging for it to stop.

 _P-please… Make it stop! Make i **t stOP**_! A massive, blue wave of magic erupted from within him, exploding in a single blast, making the trees bend from the sudden force.

And then he screamed.

[{^^—^^}]

Claire called out her boyfriend’s name, hoping it would reach his ears. A few moments of silence passed. She sighed, seeing, and hearing, no evidence that Jim was near. A black, cute dragon swooped down from above, hovering next to her.

“Any luck?” She asked Archie, whom shook his head. She stared out at the woods. “Come on, Jim. Where are you?” She mumbled to herself, watching as Archie flew back in the sky to search for the ex-Trollhunter. Since earlier, she had been able to calm down, control her emotions, all thanks to Archie’s reassuring words. _Douxie’s lucky to have him_ , Claire thought, smiling to herself as she started to walk off in another direction.

_"C… re…”_

Claire turned around, curious as to what—who?—made the noise.

_“Cl… ire…”_

She gasped, hands over mouth, tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

_“Cl… aire…”_

It was like her nightmare back in Camelot, but much worse. Jim, with the shard stuck in his heart, reaching for his heart. Toby, on the ground, in pain. Douxie, on his knees, silent, covered in injuries. Archie, bruised, lying next to Douxie, motionless.

She tried running to them—to help them. But all she could do was stand there, as if she was frozen in time. Shocked. Scared. Terrified. She felt like she was back in the forest in New Jersey—helpless to save him, helpless to do anything. Just standing there, watching the scene unfold as he was pierced in the heart by that onyx shard.

Helpless.

_Weak._

**_Useless._ **

[{^^—^^}]

Archie scanned the woods from above, but still, he couldn’t find Jim. Sighing, he returned to Claire, ready to tell her he still hasn’t found a thing. But what he saw was Claire in terror, shaking, eyes filled with tears. She seemed to be looking onward at something, but when he followed her gaze, all he saw was empty air and grass.

Archie flew in front of her. But, oddly, there was no reaction to this. His brows knitted together in confusion. Was she under a spell? Though he was a magical creature who knew and read about spells and magic and such, he couldn’t place what spell this was. _Ought to get Douxie, then._ Archie decided, flying off to find his master. He knew Claire would be fine; well, as fine as she could be, at the moment. This forest they were in had neither any monsters occupying it, nor seemed like a hazardous place, so she’d be fine.

[{^^—^^}]

“Jim!” Toby yelled as he creeped through the woods, war hammer in hand. _Crack!_ He jumped, weapon held out in front of him, pointing it in the direction of whence the noise came from. He opened one eye, peering to see what kind of monster stood before him.

It was just a rabbit.

It was just a freaking _rabbit_.

Toby felt like an idiot. He chuckled, blushing in embarrassment (for no one reason), as he loosened up on his war hammer’s hold. He watched the Oreo-colored bunny stare at him with beady little black eyes before hopping away into a bush. “Whew! Just a… just a rabbit…” he told himself, standing there for a few moments. Yeah, okay. This was getting weird.

Just as Toby started to walk and call Jim’s name out again, another voice, above him, spoke, “Tobias!” Toby looked up to see Archie swoop down next to him. He looked to be in a hurry, and his overall demeanor told him he was bothered by something. “Have you crossed paths with Hisirdoux?”

“No.” Toby let out a deflated sigh. “Haven’t spotted Jimbo yet, either. Wait, is something wrong? Is Douxie in danger?” He added, upon realizing the shapeshifter asked about Douxie, instead of Jim. Don’t get him wrong, Douxie was an important friend, too, but his literal _best friend_ was missing.

“Claire is acting odd,” Archie explained to the heavy rock fan, “and I have no idea what spell she could be under. Douxie might know, however.” He adjusted his glasses on his nose, turning into a cat as he jumped onto the ground. Just as Toby was about to go and ask the dragon what he meant by Claire acting “odd”, a piercing scream resounded throughout the woods.

The two gave each other a worried glance before running in the direction the scream came from. Archie jumped before turning back into his dragon form, speeding past Toby as fast as a bullet train. Toby even had to do a double take, thinking it was a monster of some sort and not the familiar. Toby soon caught up to Archie, who hovered near a tree, a few inches above a berry bush. He hunched over, gasping for breath and wiping some sweat off his forehead.

“Wha…?” Toby huffed. Archie shushed him, gesturing with a paw in front of the two. Toby scooted closer next to the dragon, his shoulder coming up close to the shapeshifter’s paw. “Jim!” He yelled, seeing said person standing a few feet away from them, holding a sword. His face was a mixture of anger and fear, and his posture told them he was ready to fight someone. Toby was about to jump out from behind the bush and rush up to his friend, but Archie stopped him.

“What are you doing?” Toby asked, obviously mad at the dragon. “Jim’s over there! We found him!”

“No, something’s not right…” Archie hummed, squinting at Jim, thinking. “He almost seems like he is in a trance, similar to Claire. Hmm…” As he became lost in his thoughts, he didn’t notice Toby walk towards his friend.

“Jim!” Toby exclaimed out of joy. He frowned when there was no response from him. “Jim?” He stood in front of him. Still, there was no response. “Uhh, what’s up with Jimbo?”

“Like I said,” Archie said, flying over to Toby and inspecting Jim. Toby gave him a confused look; _didn’t even listen to me, did he?_ Archie thought. “He’s acting like Claire did—unresponsive, fearful, in a trance.”

“W-Well,” Toby panicked some, “how do we get him out of it?”

Archie sighed. “That’s why I needed Douxie, but since the former Trollhunter and Claire are acting this way, Douxie probably is, too…” Toby looked concernedly at his best friend at this. He didn’t like seeing Jim—or any of his friends—in pain. What to do? _Think, Toby, think! Aha…!_ A memory came to him, one that dealt with pixies.

“What are you-?” Archie asked in surprise. But as soon as Toby did the motion, a yellow, buzzing circle flew out of Jim’s ear. Archie stared wide-eyed at it. The pixie gave off a squeal as the dragon scorched it to ash.

“Pixies…” Archie said thoughtfully. “I should’ve known.”

“What…?” A disoriented Jim asked, blinking rapidly as he regained consciousness. “What happened? Toby? Archie?” He asked, confused as he stared at his two friends. Wait, did Toby just slap him? “Where…?”

“Long story short, dude: pixies.” Toby explained, Jim humming in thought. So that’s what happened. Still didn’t explain why he was out in the woods, though. Or why Douxie and Claire weren’t with them. “Hey, where’s Claire and Douxie?”

The dragon and Toby gave each other a glance, having forgotten for a second about the two mages. “Jim, you’ll come with me,” Archie ordered. _Uh… okay?_ “Toby, you go find Douxie.” Toby nodded. He watched as Jim and Archie took off in Claire’s direction, the latter explaining to Jim about the whole ordeal. As soon as they were out of sight, Toby started off in one direction, but immediately stopped. He had no idea where Douxie was.

Thankfully (and unfortunately for Douxie), a wave of blue—Douxie’s magic?—came hurtling at Toby, who quickly ducked behind a tree. The blue wave passed him, before fizzling off into nonexistence. Toby came out of his hiding spot, a little worried for his friend. Just what was the young master wizard seeing?

Toby started running in the direction the blue, magical wave had come from. A spine-chilling scream sounded off in the distance, so he ran even faster. He soon came to a clearing, stopping at the edge of the trees. Before him was Douxie hunched over, crying, with his hands covering his ears. Toby guessed that whatever Douxie was going through, it was bad. Real _bad_.

Toby stepped out into the warm sunlight, making his way over to Douxie. He stopped next to him, unsure what to do. Should he just man up and slap him like he did with Jim? The poor boy looked so terrified… Wouldn’t that just spook him?

“There w-wasn’t much t-time…” Douxie whispered pitifully, a few tears making its way down his cheeks. Toby noticed his body was trembling. He had to do something to get him to snap out of it, but what?

[{^^—^^}]

Jim ran through the woods, Archie flying above him, guiding him to his girlfriend. The familiar had told him earlier about Claire—and, after that, he had started to run as fast as his skinny legs could carry him. Surprisingly, he actually ran faster, like he was still half-troll. _Guess a few things stuck…_

The two came to a clearing, Claire still in the same position as before. Jim hastened over to his girlfriend, looking at her with deep concern. She looked scared, crestfallen. Jim looked over his shoulder at the flying shapeshifter, before looking back at Claire, putting a hand on her shoulder. She flinched at the movement, but only slightly. He took a deep breath—he didn’t _want_ to hurt her, it was just that it was the only thing he could think of to snap her out of it (and get the pixie out of her, too).

_Smack!_

Claire blinked. In front of her stood her boyfriend, and a flying dragon; Archie. She blinked again. What…? Did Jim just…? Why…?

“I’m so, so sorry!” Jim quickly apologized, taking hold of her hands. “There were pixies-.” Oh. _That’s_ why he did it. “And I couldn’t think of anything-.” Wait. Jim was right in front of her. Which meant he was okay. He was _alive_.

Tears pricked at the corner of her eyes as she hugged him, arms around his neck. She dug her face into his shoulder. “Don’t ever run off again!” Her voice was shaky, but she didn’t care. He was alright; that’s what mattered most to her right now. “You had me worried sick… you idiot!” She cried.

Jim said nothing, shocked at her suddenly hugging him. He sighed before joining in the hug, arms wrapping around his girlfriend, smiling. He watched as the pixie (that had previously resided in Claire) turned to dust by Archie’s flames. A few moments passed before the two lovers parted, just staring at each other in silence. Claire pushed a loose lock of hair behind her ear.

“Are you two lovebirds finished?” Archie cut the beautiful silence in half. Jim and Claire chuckled, both blushing, before Claire turned to Archie, ready to ask him what happened. Instead, Archie continued with, “Let’s regroup with Toby and Douxie. Hopefully by now, Douxie has snapped out of it,” the cat-turned-dragon muttered under his breath as he took off flying in the sky. Jim and Claire followed him from behind.

[{^^—^^}]

Douxie wanted it to stop, but the voices in his head persisted. He didn’t know if the Arcane Order was there, but, at the moment, he didn’t care whether they escaped from him or not. He just wanted the dang voices to stop, end. Was that just too much to ask?!

 _"I love you, sweetheart…”_ A woman’s voice - as soft as a pillow and as silky as a mother comforting their child - whispered in his ear. He could feel a delicate hand resting on his shoulder. Since his eyes were downcast, he could only see a warm, friendly smile. Who… was she? _“No matter what happens today… Remember, do not blame them…”_

“B… but…” He didn’t know why he spoke; his voice raspy from crying. “They want… to…” He clenched his hand at his side into a fist, teeth gritting. Tears streamed down his cheek; she couldn’t die, his mother couldn’t die! But… that _wasn’t_ his mother... So, why…? Why did he…?

 _"Promise me, son,”_ another voice—a man’s, young and sturdy—comforted. _“Promise me you won’t avenge us…”_

“No… Y-You can’t go!” Douxie screamed, arms covering his face, hiding his broken self. “Y-You can’t… Mama! Papa!” And then it happened in an instant. Too many emotions exploded through his body. He felt as though his whole body would detonate in an instant from the impact the pain caused him. He waited and waited and waited for it to just end.

A familiar hand—paw? - rested on his shoulder. Muffled voices called to him. He tried to place them, but couldn’t remember. The pain - why couldn’t the pain just end? Why coul _dn’t it just frea **king end?!**_

_"MAMA! PAPA!”_

_“MURDERER!”_

_“You couldn’t even save your master! What makes you think you could save your friends?!”_

_“… red…”_

_"… d… ed…”_

_“Go, my son! Please!”_

“Shut up!” Douxie thrashed, knocking whoever had their hand—paw?—off of him. He stood up, arms over his head, hands clutching his hair, vision blurry with black dots. Raw, untamed, _black_ magic, mixed with his iconic blue magic, sizzled off of him. “SHUT UP! **_SHUT UP!_** ”

**_“̴͙͉͆̾J̴͓̃ǘ̶̧̕s̴̺̗̄t̴̡̀͜…̴̦͚͗ ̴̩̩̔̓a̸͍̐̐ ̶̲̾̀l̶̹̅ǐ̷̘̩ṱ̷͚̉͝t̴̲̰̍l̸̺̽e̴̥̥̓…̸̩͗ ̷̮͊̎ḿ̸̩̞̀ọ̴̒̊r̸̝͝e̶͙͘͝…̶̧͓̇͘ ̴̢͋t̶͍̠̊i̸̧͇̒m̶̛̰̎ͅe̵̖̍…̸̖͒̋ ̷̤̦̉͝t̸̻̆ͅẖ̸̢̅̍e̶͖͓͋n̵̫͑͛…̵̙̖̈́ ̴̥̂͋t̷͎͇̕ḥ̵͔̿ë̶̜́͊ņ̵͓̈́ ̸̬͂̕I̸̡̛’̸͙͒l̸͈̃̔l̶̢̛̅-̴̰͓̈́͆.̷̘̀”̴͕͒̽_ **

Darkness.

That was the only thing Douxie could remember after that.

[{^^—^^}]

The sun was still shining when Douxie’s eyes finally opened again. He blinked back blurriness as his vision became clear. The blanket that had been covering him fell into his lap as he sat up with a mildly confused expression planted on his face. Before him sat a pile of twigs, burnt to a crisp by flames. Archie, Claire, Jim, and Toby were a few feet from him, backs turned, talking amongst themselves. He couldn’t make out exactly what they said, but he did notice that the main subject of their conversation was him.

Douxie watched as Claire broke off from the group, rummaging through Jim’s backpack to find something. As she started standing back up, holding a water bottle, her eyes locked with his. “Teach!” She exclaimed, rushing over to said person. Jim, Archie, and Toby heard her commotion, and turned to see what she was so excited over. Once they did, they too hurried over to the wizard. Claire held out the water bottle to him, but he protested that he wasn’t thirsty. Archie insisted on him drinking it; Douxie quickly did so, gulping down a few sips. He wiped away some remaining water that was on his mouth, letting out a soft sigh.

“What…” Douxie mustered to say. “What happened?”

“Pixies.” Archie said, straight to the point. He adjusted his glasses on his nose. Douxie made an “oh” sound. He was glad that the hellish, painful experience he just had was nothing more than an illusion the pixies created, but something nagged at the back of his mind. There had been a voice, just before he had passed out…

“Doux?” His familiar suddenly asked, pulling the young master wizard out of his thoughts. Douxie looked at the worrisome cat, telling him—or, one could say, convincing _himself_ —that he was all right. After a moment or two, Archie suddenly said, “We should make haste.”

Soon after, they were off again, trudging through the woods, heading towards Archie’s friend, hoping to find out where the staff of Aiyah was - and, maybe, find out what was going on with Douxie, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if it felt rushed. Btw, do all the characters feel in-character for you guys?
> 
> Also, it'll probably be a while until the next chapter comes out, due to me still having to outline some chapters.


	7. Rimus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group finally reaches their destination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a Douxie AMV I recently made: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44r9YrLtSQk

Claire could tell something was not right with her teacher just by glancing at him. First, him using shadow magic; then, him acting that way back at the Druid village… And then there was him practically clawing at air, begging for “them” not to go, whoever “them” was. She wanted to talk to Douxie about it, but she’d probably get the same answer he told her last night. Still, she pushed that thought out of her mind, walking from Jim and over to Douxie. At first, he didn’t notice her, but after saying a simple, “Hey,” his attention was her’s.

“Oh, hey, Claire,” Douxie said, voice a smidge uneven. She could tell that, behind those hazel eyes, he was hurting. She deduced it was most likely because of what happened with the pixies.

She took in a breath, ready to say something to the young-looking wizard, when the sun suddenly shone down on them with blinding rays. She blinked, her’s—and everyone else’s—eyes adjusting to the light. They had been in the woods for a while, so it was expected of them to have to adjust. Instead of the woods with towering, leafy trees, their surroundings became more of a grassy ledge overlooking a forest below. Claire walked over near the edge, seeing an England village off in the distance. A squiggly line of a road started from the village, zigzagging through the forest to some other town that wasn’t in sight.

Jim walked over to his girlfriend, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. She let her head fall onto his shoulder. Toby joined in with his friends, standing next to them, pulling out his phone and taking a picture of the view. “Kinda reminds me of that spot back in Arcadia,” Toby commented.

Archie was about to go tell them off, as their destination was in sight, but he stopped mid flight when he saw Douxie standing near the edge of the woods, face scrunched up in thought. The familiar wanted to talk to him about the pixie incident (and everything that had been going on with him), but after a few moments, he decided it was best for them to discuss it at his acquaintance’s house.

“We best hurry,” Archie told the original trio and Douxie as he jumped to ground, still in his dragon form. “I’d estimate we would get to there by nightfall.”

“Wait, the village?” Jim asked. “That’s where your friend lives?”

“Claire could’ve just shadow-magiced us there!?” Toby yelled, exasperated. He pointed an accused finger at the dragon. “You said she couldn’t!” Yet, his voice went unheard among his friends.

Archie nodded, gesturing for them to hurry it up. Once the trio was done sight-seeing, they followed Archie down a pathway that was carved on the side of the ledge. Douxie hung at the back, uncharacteristically being silent all the way. Toby whimpered as he semi-shakily walked down the path, pebbles falling down into the forest below.

“Are you _sure_ this is safe?” Toby looked up at the flying dragon. They continued to walk on as the conversation unfolded.

“Would you prefer to go around, which is considered the long way?” Archie shot back, an eyebrow raised. Douxie silently chuckled with a small smile, the tone of voice and expression reminding him of his Master. Toby muttered something under his breath as a comeback, but no one seemed to have heard it.

It was as if time slowed down in the next few seconds. Douxie heard the sound of the ground give out from under Jim, but wasn’t able to warm him in time. Four pairs of eyes watched as the ex-Trollhunter started to fall down, down, down, into the forest. But, out of nowhere, he was outlined in a purple hue.

Claire grunted as she strained to keep her boyfriend from plummeting to his doom, eyes squinting in concentration as her fingers squeezed hard. Using more of her energy, she floated Jim from his death to solid ground in front of the group. She slowly let go of her hold, Jim landing gently onto the ground. As soon as she did, Claire crumbled to the ground on her knees, heavily panting.

Both Jim and Douxie rushed over to see if she was all right, but they were shooed off by Archie, telling the boys she “needed space.” After a minute or two, she regained her normal breathing pattern, and stood up.

“Woah!” Toby exclaimed, quickly getting over his friend’s near-death experience. “I didn’t know Douxie taught you that!”

“He didn’t,” Claire replied with arms crossed over her chest, looking smug. Douxie stared at his pupil with a smirk, nudging her shoulder with a fist. “Seems you don’t need me anymore,” he chuckled.

“It was just one spell,” Claire said, pushing a lock of black hair behind her ear. Jim grabbed Claire’s other free hand, pecking her on the cheek.

“I’m just glad I didn’t die,” Jim teased with a smile and a small chuckle.

The group traversed onward, and into the forest. Fortunately, there wasn’t a single detour they came across. The forest was mostly peaceful, except for maybe a few chirps from a bird or cricket, and an occasional hoot from an owl. Time sped by in a blink of an eye as the sun soon began to set on the horizon. It was an hour later when they finally arrived at their destination.

The village was serene and calm, with few pedestrians walking about. A few white-yellow fairy lights hung from one pole to another, lighting up the place. A few English-themed buildings sat here and there, one being a pub, another an inn; some were even a mix of shops with living quarters above them. There was a small park for children, though Douxie thought it had seen better days; most of the equipment was rusted or broken.

Archie took them around a corner, into a narrow strip that was an alleyway. A few trash bins sat against a brick wall, and some torn flyers with unintelligible writing hung up on the wall by a nail. Kind of reminded the master wizard of that time with the Shadow Mephit.

The group entered into a backstreet made of cement, the forest’s trees acting as a wall. They passed by a few doors, stopping at a set of rusted iron steps. They walked up them, stopping on a small wooden porch that was connected to the stairs. Archie approached the old door with a grey, fogged up window. He knocked—pawed?—on the door three times, before hovering near Jim, who was the closest to it. Claire stood next to him, and Toby was behind the two lovers; Douxie stood at the back, curious as to who this “friend” of Archie’s was.

A second passed. Then five. Finally, a tired-sounding grumble was heard from inside, before the sound of jingling keys entered their ears. The door opened, revealing a tan man in his late fifties wearing a dark brown overcoat with a white shirt and grey tie. Dark circles were under his silver eyes, and his short, black-grey hair was sticking out at odd ends. Noticing the familiar that hovered before him, the man quickly gave him a warm smile.

“Archibald!” The man exclaimed in a thick English accent, rushing over to him and scratching him behind the ear as a means of welcoming him. “What brings you here?”

“A dire situation.” Archie replied, shaking his head to get the man’s hand off him. Becoming aware of what he meant, the man’s voice changed to a serious one, although still keeping his tone somewhat mellow. He said, “Well, we wouldn’t want to keep the chatter out here, where someone could listen in, now, would we? Come,” he gestured for them to enter his house as he himself reentered his abode, “let’s converse somewhere more private.”

The man politely kept the door open for them to enter, letting Claire go first before the boys did. As Archie flew into the house, and as Toby awed at the man’s medieval-ish home furnishing and alchemy set that sat against one wall, the man felt a dark presence pass over him as Douxie walked past him. The feeling of darkness vanished as soon as it entered into his mind. He looked at the boy with peculiar eyes, watching him as he glanced around the small place.

“Don’t touch that!” Archie snapped at Toby, who was going to touch an empty vial that sat next to the alchemy set. Ignoring the familiar’s words, Toby grabbed the vial, knocking over another one—one filled with some red liquid—in the process. Toby yelped and dropped the vial that was in his hand, seeing the red liquid from the other vial start to burn through the table like acid. Thankfully, the man quickly saw this and used his grey-colored magic to fix the table and put the liquid in the vial that sat back upright. His magic snatched the empty vial out of Toby’s hand, setting it back onto the table, too.

“I said not to-!” Archie sighed, facepalming (paw-palming?) as he knew it would get him nowhere with the best friend of the ex-Trollhunter. Turning to the man, he apologized on behalf of the “idiot”.

The man raised his hand up, silencing Archie. “No, no, Archibald, it’s fine. It’s only expected for teenagers to be curious,” he added, more so to himself, whilst adjusting his tie.

Douxie wandered around the room, looking at a few old paintings that depicted Camelot and trolls—and even the Darklands. How the man even had that, the boy wizard did not know. Speaking of which, he heard the man continue on his conversation with Archie.

“I will go make some tea for us,” The man stated, too stubborn to object the idea when Archie told him he didn’t need to go to such lengths. “You and your friends are my guests,” he added, already down the red carpet-covered hallway. “It is the least I can do.” With that being said, he turned a corner and went into another room, most likely the kitchen.

“Your friend sure is the Englishman,” Claire teased Archie, sitting down on a love seat. Jim joined her, Toby standing behind the sofa. Douxie sat down on a cushioned chair near an unlit fireplace, a lit floor lamp sitting right next to the chair. “How’d you meet him?” she added. All eyes turned to Archie, who stretched out before jumping up onto a wooden, empty end table.

“It was after I left my father,” Archie supplied, “but before I met Hisirdoux. I was being soaked by the oncoming storm, when I stumbled upon this village, that, at the time, wasn’t much of anything. Rimus took me in when he had found me and nursed me back to health.”

“Ah, yes,” Rimus’s voice said in enjoyment as he came back into the room with a tray filled with a tea pot and six teacups. He set the tray down on the small coffee table that sat in the center of the living space. He started to pour the tea into the cups. “I seem to remember our meeting very vividly.” He raised a brow teasingly, eyes set on the said familiar. But with a quick glare from Archie that meant, “Don’t you bring it up,” Rimus shut his trap for the time being and silently handed the tea-filled cups to Douxie and the others.

A few moments as Rimus sipped tea from his own cup, setting it down next to the tea pot. He cleared his throat before speaking. “Now, onto business. What exactly is so dire that you all must come to get help from an old, magical alchemist like me?”

Claire spoke first after setting her cup down. “Actually, Archie told us, you might know where the Staff of Aiyah is?” The statement she made sounded more like a question at the end.

Rimus raised his eyebrows in curiousness and thought. “Staff of Aiyah…? Hmm…” He stood up and strode over to a bookshelf. His hand glided over the various dusty spines of books, clicking his tongue and wiggling his fingers when he found the specific book. He sat back down on the three seater sofa he had previously occupied, moving the tea tray out of the way and setting down an old, leather-bound book. He opened it, causing dust to stray into the air. He coughed, using one hand to swipe away the dust, and another to flip through the book.

“Aha!” He exclaimed, finding the page he had been looking for seconds prior. Douxie, along with Claire, her boyfriend, and Toby, huddled over the old Englishman’s shoulder to get a better look. Archie meowed as he jumped over onto the coffee table next to the book.

Remus mumbled to himself as he searched for the staff’s location. “… history…. Aiyah created… defeated… -red…. Here we are!” He shouted as his finger rested on the location’s name. Reciting from the book, he cleared his throat and said, “’The powerful staff resides in the place where its’ creator was born, the Sacred Grounds.’”

“Isn’t that the dangerous,” Toby perked up, “place you said was needed to open the Génesis Seals?” He looked at Archie, who nodded.

Claire spoke then. “It makes sense; the Sacred Grounds is a powerful place—by what we’ve heard—and the Staff of Aiyah is also deemed powerful.”

Rimus cleared his throat once more, before speaking. “It says here that the quickest way to get there is via a spell…” His brows hitched into that of slight worry. “A _powerful_ spell, that is. If anything, you’d need a master wizard to use such a spell.”

Claire flung an arm around Douxie, giving him a small smile. “Well, we already have a master wizard standing in the midst of us.”

“Hmm…” Rimus hummed with slight suspicion at Hisirdoux, almost as if he didn’t trust him. To be frank, who would actually trust a young-looking, reckless wizard who just came in your house, and with a strange aura to boot?

Rimus grabbed his cup and took a silent sip from it. The cup made a small clanking sound as it sat back on the coffee table. As like it always did, silence penetrated the conversation. Well, until Jim yawned and stretched his arms.

“I don’t know about you guys,” the ex-Trollhunter said with another yawn, “but I’m getting pretty tired.”

“Splendid idea.” Rimus added in after he sipped on his tea some more. He stood up, book closed and under his arm, and walked back over to the bookshelf, putting the item away. “I’ll get some blankets and pillows,” he added as he started for the hallway. He paused, stopping in his tracks for a second. “Archibald, would you like to help?”

Archie grumbled something unintelligible under his breath. He rolled his eyes as he changed into his dragon form with a flash of magic, flying after his friend who had already begun to walk off. It was a good, solid, awkward five minutes for the teenagers, as they had nothing to say. Every once in a while, they heard a shout come from down the hall, and then Archie’s voice as the familiar teasingly berated the old wizard alchemist.

Soon Rimus came back with a stack of blankets, pillows, outlined in grey, floating and following him from behind. Rimus, along with Douxie, pushed the coffee table out of the way and next to the bookshelf to make room. Toby and Jim slept on the floor, whilst Claire slept on the loveseat, and Douxie slept on the other sofa. Archie curled up under the blanket Douxie used, Douxie’s arm sometime later deciding to flop down on top of him. Douxie seemed to be calm and without any night terrors, so Archie happily let his arm stay in that position the rest of the night.

The next day, however… that was when things would _really_ start moving at a _much faster_ pace.


	8. Chapter 8: The Attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Arcane Order suddenly attacks.

Douxie watched as he unwrapped the days-old bandage that was on his wrist. The burn that he had gotten a few days ago from that perfect-society crazed druid was still there, but very faint, almost unnoticeable unless you looked really hard. He threw the bandage in a small trash bin that sat next to the kitchen counter before heading back out into the main living space of Rimus’s home.

He could tell from the clock on the wall that it was currently 6:50 in the morning. His friends still slept in their comfy positions, Archie curled up on top of the blanket Douxie used when sleeping. He sat back down on the sofa, burying his face in his hands. He sighed, thinking back on the nightmare he just had a few minutes ago. Instead of it being the usual guilt-tripping of him not able to save his adoptive father, it was about _them_. Those parents. A boy’s shrieking voice. 'Murderer’ was the only spoken word Douxie could remember from the nightmare.

He looked up from his hands, staring at the brick fireplace as if it would attack him. He gave out another sigh. His stomach growled, telling him that he was hungry. He would’ve happily obliged, too, if it wasn’t for a sudden noise.

_CCCRRREEEAAAKKK!_

_CCCCCRRRREEEEAAAAKKKK!_

A small dust cloud from the fireplace whirled in the air. The floor lamp’s lampshade rustled ever so gently. Douxie let his magic course through his veins, his bracelet lighting up. His hand hovered over it. Who was making that noise? Was it the Arcane Order?

Douxie waited for another sound—or anything, really—but nothing came. His bracelet fizzed out, dimming until the blue hue was gone. He relaxed. Maybe he was being paranoid. The sudden sound of his stomach growling again made him jump slightly due to it being so quiet.

Out of nowhere, as he headed towards the kitchen, the wall that accommodated the front door blew up in an orange hue, debris flying everywhere. Douxie dove for cover on the ground next to Jim, who, along with his friends and familiar, was woken up by the blast. Archie hissed as he hovered in the air, eyes squinting where the wall once stood. Douxie’s bracelet hummed to life in an instant, the young wizard ready for anything. Claire posed a fighting stance, whilst Toby and Jim held their weapons, battle-ready.

The smoke from the blast did not subside as Rimus ran out into the main living space in his pajamas, startled by the commotion. A dark, sadistic chuckle emanated from the smoke as the air became ice-cold, a part of the floor becoming covered in ice. Flames shot up in the smoke, letting Douxie get a glimpse of a certain skull-wearing demigod.

“The Arcane Order…” A raspy voice gasped from behind Douxie. The wizard looked behind him to see Rimus, in a white shirt and black shorts, standing there with wide eyes. Douxie’s attention was brought back to their enemies when a fireball flew his way. Fortunately for him, he was able to dodge it in time, but it was unfortunate for the bookcase behind him.

“My books!” Rimus screeched out in horror, hurrying over and trying to put out the flames.

“Do not attack _him_!” Skrael’s voice, filled with irritation, told his sibling. The smoke had died away now, so the Order’s members could be seen clearly. The demigod shot ice out of his staff, the element spreading across more of the living room’s flooring.

“Uh, guys?!” Toby squeaked out upon seeing that his feet had been encased in ice, too. Jim tried to rush over to his best friend to help him, but Bellroc’s fire made him back up. Jim tripped over his feet, landing on the thin ice that covered the floor.

With a battle cry, Claire charged at the two demigods, hands raised, purple magic swirling in her palms. An arrow-shaped purple bolt of magic shot straight for Skrael, hitting its target and grazing his cheek before dissipating into the air. Skrael growled as he wiped water-colored blood off him with his hand.

“We do not have time for your foolish games!” Bellroc roared, impatient. They sent out a blast of hot, smoking fire at Claire, who tried to use her magic to stop it. She grunted as her energy slowly slipped out of her. But then, she suddenly felt as if a weight was lifted from her. She glanced to her side to see Rimus with his arms outstretched. With his powerful magic, Rimus let a grey barrier shoot up through the ground, encasing the teenagers, familiar, and himself from any harm.

“Get to the…. Sacred Grounds!” Rimus grunted as fireballs and ice shards kept trying to penetrate through the barrier. “There’s… a unique-looking book in my room…! It has the spell—ah!” He cried out in pain, his energy trickling down the drain ever so slowly.

“I’m not leaving you!” Archie yelled over the din.

Rimus strained to keep the barrier up, muttering to them, “Go… I’ll be… fine!” Clearly, he wasn’t, as his face contorted into a grimace, and his arms started to be covered in grey, on-the-fritz magic.

“Give _him_ to us!” Bellroc roared as more fire spewed from their staff, hitting the barrier with such a force that made Rimus stumble a bit and gasp for air.

“Hurry!” Rimus yelled. Douxie glanced between Rimus and the Arcane Order. He wanted oh so badly to help the man, but he could tell that if they did, all of them would most likely die. He felt Claire, Jim, and Toby’s stares as they looked at him, wanting to know what the next move was. Douxie gritted his teeth, his hands balling into fists, and squeezed his eyes shut for a second or two before he ran in the opposite direction, towards Rimus’ bedroom.

“Rimus is right! We need to hurry!” Douxie shouted over a loud crash of ice and fire. His friends took no hesitation as they ran past him and into Rimus’ bedroom, immediately going to search for the book the alchemist mentioned. Well, except for Archie, who stayed by his friend’s side, flapping his wings. Douxie ran up to him, yelling at him, “Archie! Come on!”

“No!” Archie said with stubbornness, glaring at his familiar. “I can’t leave him here to die!”

“I know what that feels like, believe me.” Douxie said, voice faltering due to him getting flashbacks to a certain father-figure. He shook his head to stop himself from getting lost in thought. “But right now, we _have to go_! You of all people should know that!”

Archie gave Rimus a glance, seeing his friend grimace once again. Making up his mind, he looked back at his master, nodding his head, though with a little reluctancy. Archie had wanted to get answers pertaining to Douxie, but it seemed that would have to wait for another day.

Douxie and Archie ran into Rimus’ bedroom, and saw their friends searching for the book. Claire skimmed through a bookcase, Jim searched through a dresser’s drawers, and Toby looked under Rimus’ bed. Douxie and Archie did not waste any time as they joined in, soon finding the book they needed.

“H-Here!” Jim called out, holding up a leather-bound, gold-trimmed book that was titled _Rare Incantations_. The former Trollhunter plopped the book down on the bed, Douxie coming over and skimming through its pages, muttering to himself as he tried to find the right spell. As he overturned a page, the words ‘sacred’ caught his eyes. He backtracked to the previous page, reading the spell they needed. A more-or-less muffled rumble was heard, and a certain ice-wielder’s chuckle made everyone’s spine tingle.

“Everyone, hold hands!” Douxie yelled the step out, everyone complying. Douxie started the incantation, his eyes glowing blue. Underneath them, a large arcane symbol appeared, covering them in a bright blue haze.

Claire could hear the Order’s bare footsteps. “Uh, Teach?!” She exclaimed out in slight fear. The footsteps got closer, and closer, and closer. All of a sudden, a blinding light enveloped them, causing everyone to squeeze their eyes shut.

“Give _him_ to us!” Bellroc demanded as they and their sibling entered into the room, both with faces made of anger. But alas, the room was empty, leave for a book sitting on the alchemist’s bed. As Bellroc went to burn down the bookcase—actually, everything in the room, Skrael looked over the book.

“Do not worry, Bellroc,” Skrael said, getting his sibling’s attention. By now, half the room was baked in beautiful flames. He glanced back at the book, wearing a devilish grin. “We now know where they have taken him,” he announced.

[{^^—^^}]

Douxie felt grass. And mud. Those were the first things he felt when he became conscious. As he shook his head and stood up, he saw his friends standing near a small pond, all with confusion etched on their face.

“Where are we?” Douxie finally said, subconsciously telling his friends he was awake. Archie flew over to him and propped himself up on his shoulder. The young master wizard scratched his familiar’s chin, to which the latter purred loudly.

Douxie suddenly felt as though he had been hit by a truck. His knees buckled and his legs gave way as he crumpled to the ground. His breathing became rough as his vision went in and out of focus. He could hear someone talking, but couldn’t make out what they were saying as the person’s voice became muffled.

Douxie could feel his body pleading with him to rest. He tried to resist it. Tried to stay awake. Tried to figure out what was going on. But, ultimately, the boy became one with the darkness… and in more ways than one…


	9. The Boy Wizard, Part I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing really much I can say except this'll be at least a three-parter focusing on "Douxie".

Aiyah was watering her garden when it happened. A giant, blue flash of blinding light suddenly emitted far off in the distance. If she had to guess, it had come from the pond where she usually gets water. But what had made the light? Was the barrier around the Sacred Grounds breached? No… It couldn’t have been that. The barrier was insanely strong; you’d have to at least have two powerful beings to break the spell.

“Chelsie, stay here,” Aiyah ordered, eyes still staring at where the light came from. Chelsie, her familiar, looked up at her with her big, round purple eyes. The dark, purple hair-tipped Kitsune cocked her head to the side a few inches. Seeing this, Aiyah added, “I will be fine.”

The familiar made a small, mewing sound as she watched the twenty-year-old looking woman dash off in the direction the strange light had come from, fearing for her master’s worry. But she didn’t need to worry, as when Aiyah stopped at the edge of the forest, she found nothing but a bunch of teenagers, one of which looked as if he would faint.

Which he did.

And Aiyah ran out just in time to catch him before he fell. She could feel his skin burning up, and his whole body felt a little stiff in her arms. She didn’t care at that moment about the worried teenagers that wanted to know who she was. But she _did_ want them to stop talking. Thankfully, the dragon with them, which she assumed was one of them’s familiar, realized who she was, and quickly calmed them down.

Carrying him bridal style, Aiyah started for the infirmary, the teenagers trailing behind her. She knew it was weird for her to show up and carry their friend off without a word. But he looked sick, and Aiyah wanted to help. At least, that was what she told them as they walked past her garden, Chelsie accompanying them.

“Who are you, exactly?” One of the boys—a sixteen-year-old in a blue jacket—asked the sorceress. Said person in question opened up her mouth to respond, but the dragon familiar beat her to it.

“From what Rimus had recited last night, I’d say this is Aiyah,” Archie explained, soaring low enough so that they all could hear him better. In response to her name being said, all Aiyah did was give a soft nod.

“But,” a chubby boy said as he munched on a burrito he had gotten out of the backpack the blue-jacketed boy carried. “You said–“the boy waved his hand over at the dragon “–that this place was dangerous.”

“That’s nothing but rubbish,” Aiyah commented, it coming off as a little rude. She looked down at the boy in her arms, then back at the path in front of her. “Rumors people have spread.” And with that, the conversation dropped.

Aiyah set the sleeping, slightly pale boy down on the cotton cot, his friends gathering around him. The infirmary used to be a place where any mage could go and heal, but, after the fight against him, and those fear-filled _rumors_ , the Sacred Grounds become unbearably quiet. Aiyah was glad for the silence in the beginning, but, after a while, it started to get lonely. That was when she met Chelsie—her Kitsune familiar. The poor thing had wandered into her garden one night, badly injured from a bear attack. Aiyah had nursed her back to health. Ever since that day, Chelsie had stuck by her side like glue. Wherever Aiyah went, Chelsie did too.

The ages old sorceress dipped a cloth in water before squeezing it and laying it atop the blue-tipped boy’s head. His nose scrunched up upon contact, and he shifted in his sleep.

“Your friend here will be fine,” Aiyah told the teenagers, Chelsie rubbing against her leg and softly mewing. Aiyah then looked at them with a serious face. “But once he is awake, and feels better, you all will leave.”

“W-What?” One of them—a girl with a big, white streak in her black hair—sputtered out. “But, we need-.”

“I don’t care what you need.” Aiyah cut the girl off. “You all will leave as soon as your friend here is well enough.”

“But-!” The girl started, but was interrupted once more.

“You _will_ leave.” Aiyah’s voice sounded with authority. “Now,” she continued, “I must go and collect a few herbs for your sick friend.” And with that, Aiyah left for her garden, Chelsie trotting behind her. All became quiet, except for a bird chirping off in the distance.

“Well, that could have gone better than expected,” Archie finally said, sitting on the table next to the cot, licking his paw.

Claire rounded on the familiar was an angry glare. “’Better than expected’?” She scoffed. “She just told us to leave as soon as Douxie got better! Most likely, she won’t even _give_ the staff to us!” She threw her hands up in the air for emphasis before they swung back down to her side. She sighed, sitting down in a wooden chair that was near the bed. For comfort, Jim rested his hand on her shoulder, giving her a small smile. “Sorry…” She apologized to Archie, who easily forgave her.

Silence surrounded them once more, albeit this time it was soothing for them, as they could collect their thoughts.

[{^^—^^}]

She was certain it was him. Him as in the one whose parents died by the hands of a knight from the Round Table. Him as in the one who tried to assassinate the king of Camelot. Him as in the one who fought her to the death.

His hair. His eyes. His whole face. It was identical to his. And his aura—it had so much darkness in it. Too much darkness.

Aiyah gave out a breath as she, with a semi-shaking hand, plucked some catnip out of the ground and set it in her wicker basket. Chelsie, smelling it, ran over and stuck her head into the basket. But, with a gentle, and telling, pat on the head, the kitsune backed off.

As she continued to pick herbs to help with the boy’s fever, her thoughts drifted off back to said person. Why was she even helping him get better in the first place? Aiyah had no clue. Sure, she was most positive that it was him, and she would happily let him suffer from his fever, but…

He felt different, too. A good different. In that darkness she felt, she could also feel light. It was small, minuscule, but it was there. Shining ever so brightly, as if it had always been there.

And then another question popped into her mind. How? How did he even survive when he had _died_? She killed him. She saw his bloody body, covered in cuts, fall to the ground. Saw his dull, lifeless hazel eyes. So, how? How could someone survive that?

Aiyah stood back up, basket’s handle tucked in the corner of her elbow, causing it to hang from there. She was about to head back, when suddenly the air dropped in temperature. Chills ran down her spine, and goosebumps formed on her bare arms. The aura in the air became as dark as the boy she had been thinking of ever since those teenagers got there. No, it was darker than his. Not only that, but it felt like it radiated off of a demigod. And then two and two were put together, and she gasped with a hand over her mouth.

It was the Arcane Order. They were here.

“Well, well,” the ice demigod’s—Skrael, was his name?—voice rung out behind her. Aiyah turned around in a blink of an eye, letting the basket in her grasp fall to the ground in a precarious manner. She glared at him, runes already hovering over her battle-poised hands.

“What do you want?” Aiyah demanded, eyes staring at Skrael’s icy blue orbs. Heat flared at her back. Aiyah spun around again, face-to-face with an impatient-looking fire demigod.

“I think you know exactly what we want,” Bellroc threatened in their usual dual-gender voice. A skull sat over their face. Bellroc put their staff up to Aiyah’s neck, intense heat blaring off of it.

Skrael gave his sibling a small glare. “Bellroc.” He demanded. Said person let their staff settle back next to them, away from Aiyah’s neck. Skrael hovering a few inches off the ground, and went over towards Aiyah, whose back was facing him. As soon as he was close enough, Skrael let his clawed—iced?—hand rest on her cheek, grazing it ever so softly.

“Give the wizard to us,” Skrael whispered into her ear. Aiyah’s breath hitched in her throat. She could tell who they were talking about. It was him. They wanted him. The boy who almost killed the king. The boy who died by Aiyah’s own hands. The boy who sought revenge for his parents’ death.

Mordred.

They wanted Mordred.


	10. The Boy Wizard, Part II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna be starting school tomorrow..... yay -_- So, uh, updates may be slower.

A brown-haired boy stood out from the chilling darkness that made up Douxie’s mind. His eyes were closed, making him look innocent and calm. Every feature, starting from his head all the way to his toes, was identical to that of Douxie’s. Almost as if he were said person’s twin.

But he was not. He was no such thing that bloody wizard’s twin. If he was, then he’d be dead, _murdered_. Like his parents. Like his friends. Like those other druids.

Arthur killed them without remorse. Mordred wanted revenge for it. So, he tried to assassinate their ‘precious’ king, but then that mage Aiyah had to go and “restore the balance” or something. He hated her with every fiber in his body. She was born of magic, just like he was, and yet she’d risk her own life to save that fool, that murderer. Couldn’t she see that Arthur was killing their kind all off? How could she just protect him?!

A small, sinister chuckle escaped the boy’s smirking lips. Thanks to the spell this now-feverish boy had cast, Mordred could finally be free, could finally get revenge.

And no one would get in his way. He’d make sure of it.

[{^^—^^}]

Aiyah knew she wouldn’t be able to keep up the fight for long. The Arcane Order had already done numbers on her, evident with the bruises all over her body. One of her knees was scraped from tripping over her own feet, and her silk-made robe was basically scorched from the back, leaving her back bare and open to more lethal attacks. She bit down on her lower lip as she pulled out a thin, pointed shard of ice that somehow was able to pierce her. She could taste the crimson red liquid as it dribbled from her bottom lip due to her biting down so hard. The only reason she kept going was because of the pure adrenaline that pulsed through her veins.

It was kind of ironic in her eyes. Aiyah was basically a part of the Sacred Grounds—literally _born_ from it. In wizard history books, she was the most powerful mage to exist, and was said to have defeated a massive dragon rivaling her power without a scratch. Yet, here she was, not even five minutes into the fight, bloodied and probably in pain.

Oh, the sweet scent of irony.

“We do not have time for this!” Bellroc bellowed out in anger as flames gushed out of their staff and straight at Aiyah, who had little time to react. As the raging flames licked at every inch of her body, she prayed that the weak spell she quickly cast would help minimize the damage. The flames soon died down, and Aiyah saw that there were a few small burns on her arms and legs. Thankfully, they weren’t third-degree ones.

_SHRRRIIIINK!_

Aiyah jumped out of the way and fell right into her garden, the herbs underneath her breaking due to the mass atop them. Her pants came out shaky as she stared at the spot where she had previously stood. If she hadn’t moved out of the way in time, she would’ve been impaled by the ice shard that now stuck out of the ground.

No. She couldn’t show any fear. If she did, she would surely lose to the Order. But it was too late—Skrael had already noticed it in her eyes. “Why are you continuing to fight,” Skrael said with a childish grin, “when you know you’ll die?” Something cold wrapped around her feet, making her unmovable. She stared down at her now-frozen legs, then back up at the ice demigod.

The fear that had been in her eyes moments before was replaced with something else. Determination. Anger. Willpower. No. She would most definitely not give in to fear. Not now, not ever. If she did, the world would be doomed, and she’d be the cause.

So, with firmness and a steady voice, Aiyah spat out, “It’ll take more than puny ice and fire to kill me.” Then, with a great warlike yell, Aiyah doused the two demigods in a painful amount of magic, causing both to cry out in horror. As a bonus, it also cracked the ice on her feet, letting her take back her freedom of movement. But once she moved even an inch, her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she collapsed to the floor.

Unbeknownst to her, Skrael and Bellroc survived the massive blow.

“Argh!” Bellroc screeched as they set a few trees on fire to help calm themselves down. They spun around to face their sibling, who just smiled viciously as he stared at Aiyah’s unconsciousness body. “We must move out and find him!” With this, they started to stomp off into the other parts that made up the Sacred Grounds. Ice shot past them and into a tree, covering the tree in thin, beautiful frost, while also letting the fiery sibling to stop in their tracks.

“Patience, Bellroc,” Skrael informed them. “He’ll come to us. I can feel it.”

Somehow, in all of this, Chelsie was able to escape and go warn the teenagers without a single scratch.

[{^^—^^}]

“What’s taking her so long?” Toby wondered out loud as he sat back down next to Jim on a cot across from the one Douxie occupied. Claire sat on a wooden chair, facing the two of them. On the other side of the open infirmary, Archie was curled up on the table next to Douxie, sleeping soundly.

Near the group of talking friends sat some shrubbery and a few trees that intertwined with the forest. The mere noise of a crunching twig cake from here, causing the foursome to stop talking and look in the direction of the shrubs. Toby volunteered for Jim to go look, and, reluctantly, he did so, grabbing his sword that laid next to their shared backpack. As he inched closer, he used the tip of the sword to move some small bushes’ branches out of the way to see what made that noise.

Something small, cute, and Japanese-like pounced on him.

It was Aiyah’s familiar, the kitsune that accompanied them earlier.

“What’s she doing out here?” Claire thought out loud as she watched it hop off Jim and scurry onto the bed Jim previously occupied. Jim stood back up and walked over to his girlfriend. “Didn’t she go with Aiyah to get some herbs?”

The animal started chattering chattered on in her own animal language, but none of them knew what she was saying _Didn’t familiar speak English?_ They all thought simultaneously. Thankfully, Archie had woken up to the commotion, and decided to explain to them the reason. He said, “Some familiars never learn to speak English,” before listening to the kitsune, translating her words for them.

“Aiyah was attacked,” Archie translated, causing the teenagers to go wide-eyed. Attacked? By who? Archie gasped, asking her who attacked. After a moment, he continued with, “A boy with ice powers, and a person that controlled fire! The Arcane Order…” Archie added, muttering to himself. The Arcane Order? Here? Wait, then that meant… If they were here, at the Sacred Grounds, then… They needed to act fast, or else the whole world would be doomed.

Oh, how wrong they were. Blinded by the Arcane Order, they did not see the real threat that loomed amongst themselves. Not until Toby noticed someone was missing.

“Guys…. Where did Douxie go?”

[{^^—^^}]

They really couldn’t see it, could they? He was right there, the actual threat they should worry about, and yet they didn’t think anything of it. Mordred wanted to laugh at their stupidity for not suspecting the boy. But then again, if they had suspected him (for any reason), he would most likely not be here right now.

With his magic, Mordred moved the tree branches out of his way. The suns’ rays beat down on him, and he soon became too hot. Mordred had no clue how this boy could wear a jacket in this heat. Said apparel was taken off and thrown into the forest, leaving him to wear a grey, short-sleeved t-shirt over his chest.

Aiyah—the one who killed him—laid on top of her own herbs, eyes closed, peacefully sleeping. But as soon as Mordred entered that garden, she was awake in a split-second, not at all pleased to see him. However, the Arcane Order was more than pleased.

“I heard you guys needed me to open that,” Mordred said, pointing at the Genesis Seals that a green little creature held; _Nari_. She looked so scared and guilty for what was about to happen. Noticing this, he bent down and whispered into her ear, “Don’t worry, demigod. First, I must get rid of something, or, rather, some _one_.” He smirked as she whimpered. Standing back up, he strolled over to Aiyah, caressing her cheek with his fingers.

All Aiyah could do was stare at him with pure, enraged hatred.

“We have some unfinished business, _mage_.” The last word spat out of his mouth like poison as he smirked, ready to kill the one who had stopped him all those centuries ago.

**Author's Note:**

> Because I plan the chapters as I go, I dunno when the next chapter will come out.


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